# Which humanoid robots are deployed in factories?

**Five humanoid programs are deployed or testing in factories as of the latest record: Figure at BMW, Tesla Optimus at Tesla, XPeng Iron at XPeng, Apptronik Apollo at Mercedes, and Boston Dynamics Atlas at Hyundai.** Figure AI is the furthest along as a third-party deployment: a Figure 02 humanoid completed a body-shop trial at BMW Spartanburg, and BMW is evaluating additional use cases for the newer Figure 03. Tesla Optimus and XPeng Iron are deployed at their own companies' factories. Apptronik's Apollo is in a pilot with Mercedes-Benz. Boston Dynamics' electric Atlas is in testing at Hyundai. Each deployment is attributed to its source and scoped to its status (pilot, operational, or testing), never inflated.

Last verified Jan 1, 2025. 6 sources.

## Short answer

Humanoid robots are moving from demos to factory floors. As of the latest record, five humanoids are deployed or testing in factories.\n\nA Figure 02 humanoid completed a body-shop trial at BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, positioning sheet metal parts for welding and supporting the production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles per BMW's account. BMW is now evaluating additional use cases for the newer Figure 03. This is the most advanced third-party humanoid work on the record.\n\nTesla Optimus is working on Tesla's own production lines at Fremont and Gigafactory Texas, performing tasks including battery cell sorting and material handling. The deployment is at Tesla's own factories, not at a third-party customer.\n\nXPeng's Iron humanoid is deployed at XPeng's Guangzhou factory in China, performing assembly line tasks. Like Tesla, this is at the company's own factory.\n\nApptronik's Apollo is in a pilot deployment with Mercedes-Benz, performing manufacturing tasks including inspection and material handling. Apptronik also has a partnership with NASA.\n\nBoston Dynamics' all-electric Atlas, revealed in April 2024, is in testing at Hyundai Motor Group manufacturing facilities. Hyundai owns Boston Dynamics and has stated it intends to deploy Atlas in its factories.\n\nEvery deployment on this page is attributed to its source (company announcements, press reports) and scoped to its status. A pilot is not a full deployment, and testing is not a pilot. DEPLOY does not inflate the status.

## The factory deployment ledger

| Robot | Company | Factory | Status | Date | Source |\n| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |\n| Figure 02 (Figure 03 under evaluation) | Figure AI | BMW Spartanburg, South Carolina, USA | Body-shop trial completed; Figure 03 under evaluation | Jan 1, 2025 (as reported) | [BMW Group](https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0444265EN/successful-test-of-humanoid-robots-at-bmw-group-plant-spartanburg?language=en), [BMW Group](https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0458778EN/bmw-group-advances-the-use-of-physical-ai-in-production-with-figure-03-project-in-spartanburg?language=en) |\n| Apptronik Apollo | Apptronik | Mercedes-Benz (pilot location, attributed) | Pilot | Dec 15, 2024 (as reported) | [Apptronik](https://www.apptronik.com/post/apptronik-mercedes-benz) (2024-12-15) |\n| XPeng Iron | XPeng | XPeng Guangzhou, China | Operational at own factory | Nov 12, 2024 (as reported) | [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/technology/xpeng-launches-iron-humanoid-robot-2024-11-12/) (2024-11-12) |\n| Tesla Optimus | Tesla | Tesla Fremont, California and Gigafactory Texas | Operational at own factories | Oct 10, 2024 (as reported) | [Tesla](https://www.tesla.com/blog) (2024-10-10) |\n| Boston Dynamics Atlas (electric) | Boston Dynamics | Hyundai Motor Group facilities (testing) | Testing phase | Apr 17, 2024 (as reported) | [Boston Dynamics](https://bostondynamics.com/blog/electric-atlas-launch/) (2024-04-17) |\n\n## How we know this

- [BMW Group](https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0444265EN/successful-test-of-humanoid-robots-at-bmw-group-plant-spartanburg?language=en)
- [BMW Group](https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0458778EN/bmw-group-advances-the-use-of-physical-ai-in-production-with-figure-03-project-in-spartanburg?language=en)
- [Apptronik](https://www.apptronik.com/post/apptronik-mercedes-benz) (2024-12-15)
- [Reuters](https://www.reuters.com/technology/xpeng-launches-iron-humanoid-robot-2024-11-12/) (2024-11-12)
- [Tesla](https://www.tesla.com/blog) (2024-10-10)
- [Boston Dynamics](https://bostondynamics.com/blog/electric-atlas-launch/) (2024-04-17)

## Common questions

### Are humanoid robots working in factories?

Yes. A Figure 02 humanoid completed a body-shop trial at BMW Spartanburg (with Figure 03 under evaluation), Tesla Optimus works at Tesla's own factories, XPeng Iron at XPeng's Guangzhou plant, Apptronik Apollo at Mercedes (pilot), and Boston Dynamics Atlas at Hyundai (testing). The deployments are real but at different stages: Figure at BMW is the furthest along as third-party factory work, while the others are at earlier stages or at their own companies' factories.

### Is Tesla Optimus working in a factory?

Yes, Tesla has deployed Optimus prototypes on its own factory lines at Fremont and Gigafactory Texas, performing tasks including battery cell sorting and material handling. The deployment is at Tesla's own factories, not at a third-party customer. Elon Musk has stated the robots are performing useful work and plans to scale Optimus production.

### Is Figure AI at BMW?

Yes. A Figure 02 humanoid completed a body-shop trial at BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina plant, positioning sheet metal parts for welding, and BMW is evaluating additional use cases for the newer Figure 03. This is attributed to BMW's own account.

### How many humanoid robots are in factories?

The exact count of units deployed is not fully disclosed by each company. The record tracks five distinct humanoid-robot factory programs: Figure at BMW, Tesla Optimus at Tesla, XPeng Iron at XPeng, Apptronik Apollo at Mercedes, and Boston Dynamics Atlas at Hyundai. The number of units per program varies and is attributed to each company's own reporting, not an audited count.

## Keep reading

- [Which physical-AI companies are worth the most? Valuations ranked.](/valuations.md): Comparisons
- [What AI actually drives each robot? AI stacks compared](/ai-stacks.md): Comparisons
- [Which company is the leader in humanoid robotics?](/which-company-leads-humanoid-robotics.md): Comparisons
- [Which country is no. 1 in robotics?](/which-country-is-number-1-in-robotics.md): Comparisons
- [All verified answers](/answers.md): Every standing question DEPLOY tracks.

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