Humanoid Robots Face Scalability Hurdles Despite Surging Hype

Humanoid robots captivate but concerns persist

Humanoid robots drew crowds at Automate 2026 in Chicago last month, with demonstrations of machines that could interact with attendees, dance, and prepare lattes. Yet behind the spectacle, industry executives expressed caution about the technology's readiness for large-scale manufacturing deployment.

"There's definitely a lot of buzz," said Jim Brown, chief commercial officer for Teradyne Robotics, during an executive panel on automation's future. "People are enamored by the humanoid form factor, but at this point, maybe they're not thinking about what problems we are actually trying to solve."

While several major manufacturers have initiated humanoid trials—Hyundai plans to deploy Boston Dynamics' Atlas at its Georgia EV plant by 2028, and Agility Robotics is expanding its Digit humanoid at Toyota facilities—fundamental questions about efficiency and practicality remain unresolved.

Why it matters

The humanoid robotics sector is attracting unprecedented capital despite unproven scalability, creating a potential mismatch between investor expectations and near-term manufacturing reality. Companies evaluating automation investments need to understand the current limitations of humanoids versus more mature alternatives like autonomous mobile robots and collaborative arms that already handle tasks efficiently at scale.

Power consumption and efficiency gaps

One critical challenge is energy efficiency. "It's not free for robots to stand around," Brown noted. "That requires a lot of power. These are not devices that are extremely efficient at this point in time."

Existing robotics solutions often outperform humanoids for specific tasks. Autonomous mobile robots navigate facilities on wheels, industrial arms handle heavy or dangerous work from fixed positions, and collaborative robots work alongside humans for palletizing and quality inspection—all with greater energy efficiency than bipedal machines.

Investment surge despite early-stage technology

Global humanoid installations reached just 2,000 units in 2024 but are projected to hit 60,000 this year, according to Barclays Investment Bank research. This acceleration follows a decade of declining production costs and reflects surging venture capital interest.

Robotics startups raised over $18.8 billion in the first half of 2026 alone, surpassing the record $15 billion raised in all of 2025, according to Crunchbase data. Notable rounds included defense tech company Saronic's $1.75 billion series D and Neura Robotics' series C backed by Nvidia and Amazon.

"I change my mind on humanoids depending on the day," said Robert Little, who leads a robotics advisory firm and previously founded ATI Industrial Automation. "The advancements are happening faster than I'm able to keep up with. There's so much money also in the development that has never been there before."

The AI deployment gap

While artificial intelligence promises to enhance robot capabilities, practical deployment lags laboratory success. "Something that is 80% successful in the lab is amazing," said Mikell Taylor, director of robotics strategy at General Motors' Autonomous Robotics Center. "But 80% success is failure in production, so I think that gap has a long way to go in the industry."

Jan Louwen, global head of AGV at Stäubli Robotics, warned that overpromising on emerging capabilities could damage the sector's credibility. "This can also bounce us back in the development if we are overpromising," he said.

Little predicted humanoids would first gain traction in manufacturing over the next decade before expanding to retail and eventually residential applications, though he emphasized the home market remains distant.

These details were first reported by Manufacturing Dive from the Automate 2026 conference.