Humanoid robots are poised to enter warehouses, automotive factories and even some homes in growing numbers in 2025 – but whether they can really take hold remains to be seen. The machines in this new revolution will be different to existing working robots, which are primarily lone arms doing repetitive motions on assembly lines or wheeled bots navigating warehouses. Humanoid robots with two arms and legs should fit more easily into spaces designed for humans, but pulling that off will require much better artificial intelligence to handle such unpredictable environments. The hope is that recent advances in AI can be put to work in this way. “There is a lot of optimism that ChatGPT-level models for robotics will soon be upon us,” says Ed Colgate at Northwestern University in Illinois. In both the US and China, a huge range of companies are planning to put humanoid robots to work in 2025. “While humanoids have been around for a long time, we’ve never seen anything like this,” says Colgate. First, there are the robots coming to car factories, which are already well experienced in using robot arms. The California-based start-up Figure – with financial backing from OpenAI, Microsoft and Nvidia – tested its humanoid robots in a BMW factory this year, with plans for a larger deployment in 2025.

Full opinion : A robotic boom could see thousands of humanoid units entering workplaces and more in 2025, but whether they will have staying power remains to be seen.