Humanoid robots in industry 2026: the machines have long since moved out of the research lab and into real factory floors and warehouses, even though only a few have managed the leap to sustained production operation. Humanoid robots are two-legged machines equipped with arms and gripping hands, purpose-built for work environments designed by and for humans. At BMW in Spartanburg, Figure 03 has been sorting parts for assembly since June 25, 2026 (source: BMW Group PressClub, June 25, 2026); at GXO, Agility Digit had already moved more than 100,000 totes by November 20, 2025 (source: Agility Robotics, November 20, 2025) – while Tesla itself admits that, as of 2026, its Optimus is still "not working at any meaningful scale" in its own plants (source: Tesla earnings call Q4 2025, January 28, 2026).
- Figure 03 has been sorting parts at BMW's Spartanburg plant since June 25, 2026 – its predecessor, Figure 02, supported production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 units during an eleven-month pilot, according to BMW/Figure AI (June 25, 2026).
- Agility Digit had moved more than 100,000 totes at GXO's Flowery Branch, Georgia site by November 20, 2025 (source: Agility Robotics, November 20, 2025) – the most commercialized humanoid robot deployment to date.
- At Mercedes-Benz, fewer than ten Apptronik Apollo units were working in a pilot program in Berlin-Marienfelde and in Kecskemét, Hungary, according to heise.de (March 19, 2025).
- Tesla Optimus is not yet deployed at any meaningful scale in Tesla's own plants as of 2026 and remains a research and development project, according to CEO Elon Musk (earnings call, January 28, 2026).
- At Schaeffler in Cheraw, South Carolina, operating a Digit robot currently costs $10 to $25 per hour, with a target of $2 to $3, according to Agility co-founder Damion Shelton (humanoidsdaily.com, March 25, 2026).
Where are humanoid robots already working in industry in 2026?
In 2026, humanoid robots are working primarily in automotive production and warehouse logistics: at BMW (Figure 03), at Mercedes-Benz (Apptronik Apollo), at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, GXO, and Schaeffler (Agility Digit in each case), and on a trial basis at Unitree's own plant and at Tokyo Haneda Airport (Unitree G1). The table below breaks down the deployments documented in 2026 by task and status.
| Company | Robot | Deployment | Status (Pilot/Production) |
|---|---|---|---|
| BMW Group (Spartanburg, USA) | Figure 03 | Parts sequencing in logistics | Pilot project (since June 25, 2026) |
| GXO/SPANX (Flowery Branch, USA) | Agility Digit | Moving totes between cobots and conveyor belt | Commercial RaaS operation (since June 27, 2024) |
| Amazon (USA) | Agility Digit | Sorting empty totes | Pilot completed, no confirmed production customer (as of June 24, 2026) |
| Mercedes-Benz (Berlin & Kecskemét) | Apptronik Apollo | Delivering assembly kits, inspecting parts | Pilot project, fewer than 10 units (as of March 19, 2025) |
| Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada | Agility Digit | Unloading totes for RAV4 assembly | Commercial operation, 7 robots (since February 19, 2026) |
| Schaeffler (Cheraw, USA) | Agility Digit | Carrying bearing baskets from stamping press to washing station | Commercial deployment (since 03/2026) |
| Tesla (Fremont, USA) | Optimus | Test tasks, no production use according to Tesla | R&D/pilot phase (as of January 28, 2026) |
| Unitree (own plant, China) | Unitree G1 | Assembling motor parts | Internal pilot operation (as of February 13, 2026) |
BMW × Figure 03: parts sequencing in Spartanburg
At BMW's Spartanburg plant, Figure 03 has been handling parts sequencing since June 25, 2026: it takes unsorted parts from large containers, sorts them into sequencing carts, and hands them off to tow trains or smart transport robots that deliver them "just in sequence" to the assembly line (source: BMW Group PressClub, June 25, 2026). This followed an eleven-month pilot of the predecessor Figure 02 in body-in-white production, which, according to BMW/Figure AI, supported the production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 units by loading sheet-metal parts for welding.
"The Spartanburg plant is the birthplace of humanoid robotics in BMW Manufacturing's day-to-day operations."
Ulrich Wieland, VP Production Control & Logistics, BMW Manufacturing (BMW Group PressClub, June 25, 2026)
GXO × Agility Digit: more than 100,000 totes moved
The most commercialized deployment of Agility Digit is at logistics provider GXO: under a multi-year agreement signed in June 2024 – described by Agility Robotics as the industry's "first formal commercial deployment of a humanoid robot" under a robots-as-a-service model – Digit moves totes between cobots and conveyor belts at the SPANX site in Flowery Branch, Georgia (source: Agility Robotics, June 27, 2024). By November 20, 2025, the robot had moved more than 100,000 totes there (source: Agility Robotics, November 20, 2025).
Amazon × Agility Digit: pilot completed, production customer status still open
Amazon was Digit's first pilot customer in 2023: starting in October 2023, the company tested the robot for sorting empty totes at a fulfillment center south of Seattle (source: Agility Robotics, October 24, 2023). However, Amazon no longer appears in the official customer list Agility Robotics published for its IPO on June 24, 2026 – only Schaeffler, GXO, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and Mercado Libre are named (source: Agility Robotics, June 24, 2026). According to a company spokesperson quoted by GeekWire (June 24, 2026), the company had "wrapped up several pilots" with Amazon and looked forward to working together again "once we bring our next-generation robot to market" – meaning that, as of mid-2026, an active, paying production deployment at Amazon is not confirmed.
Mercedes-Benz × Apptronik Apollo: kitting in Berlin and Kecskemét
At Mercedes-Benz, Apptronik Apollo has been delivering assembly kits to the production line and simultaneously inspecting the delivered parts under a pilot agreement signed in March 2024 (source: PR Newswire/Apptronik, March 15, 2024). It is being tested at the Digital Factory Campus in Berlin-Marienfelde and at the Kecskemét plant in Hungary; according to heise.de (March 19, 2025), fewer than ten Apollo units were in use there, controlled via teleoperation and augmented-reality guidance from experienced workers. TechCrunch (February 13, 2025) likewise noted that Apptronik had "not exited the pilot phase with any of its partnerships" – the next planned step, according to Mercedes-Benz board member Jörg Burzer, is the transition from teleoperated to autonomously operating Apollo units (source: automotivemanufacturingsolutions.com, March 18, 2025).
Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada × Digit: from year-long pilot to seven-robot contract
After a year-long pilot, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada (TMMC) signed a commercial agreement with Agility Robotics on February 19, 2026: at TMMC's Cambridge and Woodstock plants in Ontario, seven Digit robots will now unload totes from automated tow trains, supplying the RAV4 assembly line, according to TechCrunch (February 19, 2026) (source: Agility Robotics, February 19, 2026). TMMC president Tim Hollander explained the move: "We are excited to deploy Digit to enhance our team members' experience and improve operational efficiency" (source: Agility Robotics, February 19, 2026).
Schaeffler × Digit: first deployment directly on the production floor
At bearing manufacturer Schaeffler, Digit has been working since March 2026 at the Cheraw, South Carolina plant (750 employees) no longer in logistics but directly on the production floor: the robot carries baskets of bearing components weighing roughly eleven kilograms from a stamping press to an industrial washing station, across two four-hour shifts with a charging break in between (source: humanoidsdaily.com, March 25, 2026). Because Digit cannot yet reliably detect people in its surroundings, according to Futurism (March 17, 2026), it works inside a plexiglass cage and is supervised by an Agility contract employee for the entire shift; operating costs currently run $10 to $25 per hour, according to Agility co-founder Damion Shelton, with a target of $2 to $3 (source: humanoidsdaily.com, March 25, 2026). The employee who previously performed the task was moved to a higher-skilled inspection role.
Tesla Optimus: production launch announced, but according to Musk, no material handling yet
Tesla plans to gradually convert its Fremont plant into an Optimus factory with a target capacity of one million units per year, and in the long term aims for Gigafactory Texas to produce up to ten million units annually. However, regarding the current status at its own plant, CEO Elon Musk made clear during the Q4 2025 earnings call on January 28, 2026, that Optimus remains a research and development project and is not yet working productively at any meaningful scale in the plant; he does not expect significant production volume before late 2026 at the earliest (source: The Motley Fool, Tesla earnings call transcript, January 28, 2026).
"We're still very early in Optimus. It's still in the research and development phase. […] It's not deployed at any meaningful scale in our factories."
Elon Musk, CEO Tesla, Q4 2025 earnings call (January 28, 2026)
Unitree G1: in-house factory plus airport pilot in Tokyo
Unitree is initially deploying the G1 in its own plant: there, the robot assembles motor components using a two-finger gripper, according to humanoidsdaily.com (February 13, 2026) – the manufacturer reports that more than 5,500 G1 units were delivered in 2025. Outside the factory floor, Japan Airlines launched a pilot trial with GMO Internet Group at Tokyo Haneda Airport in May 2026, running through 2028, in which G1 robots move baggage and cargo; safety-critical tasks remain reserved for human staff, according to heise.de (April 29, 2026).
Pilot project or production operation – how far has industry really come in 2026?
Of the deployments documented here, only Agility Digit has so far made the leap from pilot project to ongoing commercial operation in 2026: at GXO as robots-as-a-service since June 27, 2024, at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada with seven robots since February 19, 2026 following a year-long pilot, and at Schaeffler directly on the production floor since March 2026. Figure 03 at BMW, Apollo at Mercedes-Benz, and Optimus at Tesla, by contrast, remain pilot projects or internal test runs without any stated production unit counts. Even Agility CEO Peggy Johnson tempered the hype in comments to TechCrunch on July 5, 2026: it will still be "10-plus years" before robots arrive in private households – the real competition in 2026 is playing out in warehouses and factories.
How many humanoid robots are actually working for pay in industry in 2026?
For its IPO on June 24, 2026, Agility Robotics put commercial Digit deployments at more than 65,000 operating hours across nine customer sites – including Schaeffler, GXO, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and Mercado Libre – with contractually committed Digit v5 orders worth more than $300 million (source: Agility Robotics, June 24, 2026). Other manufacturers such as Figure AI, Apptronik, and Tesla have not yet disclosed comparable figures for their plant deployments.
How safe are humanoid robots in the workplace?
In 2026, most industrially deployed humanoid robots still work behind physical safety barriers or under permanent human supervision, because their sensors still cannot reliably detect people nearby: at Schaeffler, Digit therefore stands inside a plexiglass cage, according to Futurism (March 17, 2026), supervised by an Agility contract employee for the entire shift. A lawsuit illustrates how seriously the issue must be taken: Figure AI's former safety engineer, Robert Gruendel, alleges in a lawsuit filed on November 21, 2025, that internally measured impact forces of the predecessor model F.02 exceeded more than double the force needed to fracture a human skull, and that the safety program had been "gutted" ahead of a funding round; Figure AI denies the allegations and describes the departure as a termination for underperformance (source: roboticsandautomationnews.com, November 26, 2025).
What does the former Figure AI safety engineer's lawsuit reveal about humanoid robot safety?
Former Figure AI safety engineer Robert Gruendel claims in a lawsuit filed in California on November 21, 2025, that the predecessor model F.02 generated impact forces during internal testing of more than double the value needed to fracture a human skull, and that the company cut formal safety processes ahead of a funding round (source: roboticsandautomationnews.com, November 26, 2025). Figure AI disputes the allegations and describes the departure as a performance-related termination.
What is still holding back widespread adoption of humanoid robots in industry?
Analysts at Interact Analysis cite high acquisition and operating costs and a dexterity gap versus human workers as the biggest brakes in 2026, along with unresolved safety and certification questions and doubts about whether the bipedal form even makes sense for most tasks (source: Interact Analysis, May 12, 2025). In practice, this is illustrated by Schaeffler: with operating costs of $10 to $25 per hour, Digit there is still more expensive than the $20 starting wage of a human worker at the same site (source: humanoidsdaily.com, March 25, 2026) – only once the targeted rate of $2 to $3 per hour is reached would the economic advantage clearly reverse.
Bottom line: 2026 ends the test-hall phase, but production operation has only just begun
Humanoid robots have genuinely arrived on the factory floor in 2026 – as pilot projects at BMW, Mercedes-Benz, and Tesla, and as the beginnings of routine operation at Agility Digit customers such as GXO, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, and Schaeffler. The decisive question in 2026 remains whether a deployment transitions from pilot project to paid, recurring operation – so far, that has only been documented at a handful of vendors and customers, while safety, cost, and certification questions remain unresolved for the vast majority of deployments.
