Airbus ordered UBTech’s Walker S2, a full-size humanoid that stands 176 cm tall (5’9"), weighs 70 kg (154 lbs), and walks at about two meters/second (4.5 mph). It has dextrous hands with 11 degrees of freedom and tactile sensors, and can hold 7.5 kg (16.5 lbs) in each hand and 1 kg (2.2 lbs) with each finger.

With stats like that, one can’t help but suspect that the first country to have a million humanoids will be China.

By Heekyong Yang and Hyunjoo Jin SEOUL, Jan 22 (Reuters) - Hyundai Motor's labour union in South Korea warned the automaker on Thursday against deploying humanoid robots without union approval, saying the robots would bring "employment shocks".

We're not shipping a lot of humanoid robots yet. But shipments are forecast to almost double each year for the next decade. Here's who's leading now

Many researchers agree that there has been a step change in humanoid capability over the past five years, owing to cheaper parts as well as innovations such as improved battery power and artificial-intelligence algorithms, which allow for better perception and autonomy.

Humanoid robot companies employ armies of human operators to train their machines by doing tasks like squatting and washing dishes.

Humans are desperate to put the robots to work. The only problem is, the robots don’t “work” to any degree. These humanoid bots are interesting. Some are even cute. Few, if any, are anywhere close to prime time. It was a dour scene at CES 2026, so much so I can’t help but wonder if they ever will be.

On Jan. 22, Louisiana's economic development agency and St. Bernard-based SSE Steel Fabrication announced an agreement with Houston-based tech startup Persona AI to launch a pilot program at SSE to develop humanoid robotics for industrial uses. Greater New Orleans Inc., southeast Louisiana's economic development nonprofit, also is participating.