Tesla's 'Thousands by 2025' Pledge Faces Delays
Atlas 2 Field Deployment by Hyundai Nears Reality
The two major players in the mass-produced humanoid industry are Tesla and Boston Dynamics. Tesla is accelerating the training of 'Optimus,' while Boston Dynamics is doing the same with 'Atlas,' aiming to deploy them in factories.
On August 22, Daol Investment & Securities released a report titled "The Moment Boston Dynamics Becomes Important," analyzing that the field deployment of Atlas 2 will serve as a key catalyst for Hyundai Motor’s mid- to long-term stock rally.
Tesla Promised 'Thousands of Units by 2025,' But...
Previously, at CES in January this year, Tesla had announced, "We will deploy thousands of Optimus units in factories within this year." However, there has yet to be any news of large-scale deployment on production sites. On August 20 (local time), Boston Dynamics, a Hyundai Motor subsidiary, released a video announcing the start of training based on LBM (Large Behavior Model). This marks the first step toward mass production of Atlas 2.
The traditional training method for humanoid robots was the 'classical robotics architecture,' where robots receive information from the outside world, process it, and operate according to clear rules and step-by-step algorithms. However, LBM is a training method in which AI learns to behave like a human by using vast datasets (such as videos of human actions, real robot experiences, and simulations), enabling sophisticated automation.
Yoo Jiwoong, an analyst at Daol Investment & Securities, said, "Earlier this year, Nvidia highlighted 'GR00T,' a robot foundation model that enables robots to train themselves as a core of physical AI. Since then, practical cases have started to emerge in real humanoid robots." He added, "As far as is currently known, Sanctuary AI and Figure AI have started LBM-based training, and Tesla Optimus is also reportedly being trained in-house."
Hyundai's Atlas 2 Field Deployment Imminent
Atlas 2 is scheduled to be deployed at Hyundai Motor Group’s U.S. electric vehicle plant HMGMA and the Singapore Innovation Center HMGICS. It is expected to be mainly used in the assembly stage among the five assembly processes-press, body, paint, assembly, and inspection-helping to increase UPH (Units Per Hour) by more than 10%. Analyst Yoo Jiwoong stated, "Once mass production capability is confirmed, the effects of LBM training will be maximized, and a significant performance gap compared to independent robotics companies can also be expected."
Hyundai Motor holds 54.7% of Boston Dynamics shares through its U.S. subsidiary HMG Global and 11.0% through Hyundai Glovis. The remaining shares are held by Hyundai Motor Group Chairman Chung Euisun (21.9%) and SoftBank (12.4%). Analyst Yoo Jiwoong commented, "With Hyundai Motor Group’s quantitative growth cycle (expansion in the U.S., Europe, and India) expected to begin at the end of this year, the field deployment of Atlas 2 is likely to serve as a key catalyst for a mid- to long-term stock rally."
© The Asia Business Daily(www.asiae.co.kr). All rights reserved.
