"Will Robots Just Do 'Kung Fu' Instead of Working? Confident in Atlas's 'Superhuman' Role on the Factory Floor" [Interview]

Jack Jakowski, Head of Atlas Development
"Atlas Delivers More Economic Value Than 'Kung Fu'... Mass Production Experience Sets Us Apart"
Cautions Against Chinese Robots Demonstrating Kung Fu Moves
Emphasizes "Real Industrial Work Performanc

Boston Dynamics, the robotics subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group, has expressed confidence in its competition against Chinese robotics companies. While Chinese companies focus on mimicking human actions with their robots, Atlas is said to deliver performance that surpasses human capabilities, such as 360-degree joint rotation, making it suitable for real industrial environments.

On the second day of CES on the 7th (local time), the robot Atlas demonstrated parts transportation at the Hyundai Motor booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Nevada, USA. Photo by Yonhap News

Jack Jakowski, Head of Atlas Development at Boston Dynamics, met with reporters at the Hyundai Mobis business meeting room in the Las Vegas Convention Center on the second day of CES 2026, the world's largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition, on the 7th (local time). He stated, "Chinese companies are actively entering the robotics market, but I hope they focus on what tasks their robots can actually perform in real industrial settings in terms of performance."

He added, "If a robot just walks around doing nothing or only demonstrates 'kung fu' moves, I don't believe it brings any economic value. We are leading this market by maintaining a significant technological gap in hardware to replace humans in complex manipulation tasks." Last May, Chinese robotics company Unitree's humanoid robot 'G1' attracted attention by demonstrating kung fu movements.

Jack Jakowski, Head of Atlas Development at Boston Dynamics (left), and Se Wook Oh, Executive Director of Robotics Promotion at Hyundai Mobis, are shaking hands at the Hyundai Mobis business meeting room in the Las Vegas Convention Center on the second day of the world's largest consumer electronics and IT exhibition, CES 2026, on the 7th (local time). Hyundai Motor Group.

Se Wook Oh, Executive Director of Robotics Promotion at Hyundai Mobis, also commented, "Chinese companies are focused on imitating human actions, but in contrast, Boston Dynamics' Atlas delivers 'superhuman' performance that exceeds human abilities on actual mass production lines."

He explained that Hyundai Mobis plays a significant role in Boston Dynamics' success against Chinese robotics companies. Jakowski said, "We believe Hyundai Mobis is the optimal partner because not only does it match Chinese companies, but it also has a proven track record of supplying large volumes of parts with strong performance, price, and reliability."

Executive Director Oh stated, "Chinese robotics developers have no experience in large-scale parts production. Hyundai Mobis is differentiated from new Chinese parts suppliers thanks to its experience and know-how in mass production." He added, "In terms of cost competitiveness, we can reduce costs by applying technologies gained from automotive parts manufacturing. Hyundai Mobis already has global production lines and an after-sales service supply chain in place, allowing us to supply parts reliably."

Se Wook Oh, Executive Director of Robotics Promotion at Hyundai Mobis (left), and Jack Jakowski, Head of Atlas Development at Boston Dynamics, are being interviewed by the press on the second day of CES 2026, the world's largest home appliance and IT exhibition, on the 7th (local time) at the Hyundai Mobis business meeting room in the Las Vegas Convention Center. Hyundai Motor Group.

On this day, Hyundai Mobis announced that it will supply actuators for robots to Boston Dynamics. Actuators are key drive components that receive signals from controllers to perform movements, accounting for about 60% of the material cost in manufacturing humanoid robots.

To address the chronic issue of hallucination in artificial intelligence (AI), the company has decided to collaborate with Google. On January 5, the day before CES opened, Boston Dynamics and Google DeepMind announced a strategic partnership. The two companies plan to combine Gemini, which has intelligence, with Atlas, which possesses physical capabilities.

On the second day of CES on the 7th (local time), the robot Atlas demonstrated parts transportation at the Hyundai Motor booth at the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) in Nevada, USA. Photo by Yonhap News

Jakowski expressed his expectations, saying, "Google DeepMind has been researching the most challenging problems in robotics, so I believe they will be able to solve issues that academia has not yet answered."