Boston Dynamics is unlikely to go public in 2027, a senior Hyundai Motor Group executive told Reuters, cooling market expectations that had built through the summer around a near-term listing of the Atlas-maker. "It won't be easy," the executive said, according to reporting picked up by Humanoid Guide and syndicated on 14 September 2026.
Factory First, IPO Later
Hyundai, which acquired Boston Dynamics from SoftBank in 2021, wants to prove the humanoid business model in its own plants before opening the books to public-market investors. The group has committed to building a factory capable of producing 30,000 robots a year by 2028, with the first units deploying to its Georgia auto plant that same year. Hyundai is also finalising the purchase of the 10% stake SoftBank still holds in Boston Dynamics, giving the Korean group full control ahead of any future listing.
Losses Widen As Atlas Ramps
The financial gap Boston Dynamics must close is significant. The company posted a 528.4 billion won loss in 2025, and its accumulated deficit from 2021 to 2025 sits at roughly 1.7 trillion won. Kim Hyun-su, senior fund manager at IBK Asset Management, told Reuters the underlying issue is deployment friction rather than technology: "It's challenging to make them carry heavy loads and get involved in manufacturing at plants."
How It Fits The Humanoid Race
The delay lands as rivals accelerate. XPENG's IRON humanoid began rolling off its Guangzhou line earlier this month, and the XPENG Robotics unit closed a $900M Series A at a $6.3B valuation. Chinese suppliers such as NSK partner Atom are locking in actuator capacity, and OpenAI has publicly signalled its own humanoid ambitions. Boston Dynamics still owns the highest-profile brand in humanoid robotics, but it now has to convert that pole position into paid factory hours.
What To Watch Next
Hyundai is expected to spend 2027 running Atlas pilots inside its Metaplant America facility in Bryan County, Georgia, and its Ulsan plants in Korea. Investors will look for firmer per-robot economics from those trials, plus concrete third-party pilot revenue, before Boston Dynamics files. On today's cadence, a listing later in the decade looks more realistic than a 2027 debut.
Reporting based on coverage from Reuters, Humanoid Guide and industry filings.