Hyundai Motor Co., the official automotive partner of the FIFA World Cup for 27 years, is using this year’s global tournament to showcase the robotics technology of its Boston Dynamics subsidiary, underscoring the automaker’s expansion into AI-powered mobility.
Hyundai historically has used the World Cup’s global platform to showcase its vehicles throughout the games, involving soccer fans and professional players in its campaigns shown in stadiums, on television and online. It spotlights its vehicles through advertising campaigns featuring soccer stars, fan activations and social media.
Its U.S. arm, Fountain Valley-based Hyundai Motor America, is providing transportation for national teams and tournament staff during the 2026 games, supplying 994 passenger vehicles and 506 buses across the three host countries and 16 venues.
Its most recent campaigns, however, have involved mobile machines by Washington-based Boston Dynamics – a robotics developer that the South Korean automaker acquired a controlling stake in 2020. A few years ago, Hyundai featured the firm’s Spot robot – a small quadruped already deployed across factory floors, construction sites and research labs – in videos dancing to music from K-pop band BTS during the 2022 games.
In January, Boston Dynamics revealed the third product in its portfolio, a humanoid robot called Atlas.
Hyundai collaborated with the developer to make Atlas the star of its social media and marketing for the 2026 World Cup. The automaker documented the Boston Dynamics team teaching the mobile robot how to play soccer in five videos as part of its campaign dubbed “Next Starts Now.”
The series shows Atlas analyzing and modeling real movement data from people playing soccer, then translating the movements into a physics-based simulation environment so the robot can train and repeat the moves. The experiment was to show how robotic systems can evolve and be inspired by real-world physical applications like soccer.
Atlas was also in a 60-second spot with the South Korea team captain Son Heung-min along with young, upcoming players from Argentina to England.
“We are creating new and meaningful ways for fans to experience the game by introducing innovative technologies and immersive interactions that will be both memorable and impactful,” Hyundai Motor Chief Executive José Muñoz said in a statement.
Hyundai and Boston Dynamics have also been deploying both Atlas and Spot robots at designated venues to participate in match operations, fan engagement and other activities throughout the tournament. Spot, with its latest AI visual detection features, has been helping with perimeter security and patrols at stadiums in Dallas and New York/New Jersey.
Hyundai ultimately plans to deploy tens of thousands of Boston Dynamics’s robots across its own automotive manufacturing facilities and is even building its own robotics factory in the U.S. aiming to manufacture 30,000 robot units annually by 2028.
The company will start by introducing Atlas to parts sequencing in 2028, later adding component assembly by 2030, then Hyundai will have Atlas take on other “tasks involving repetitive motions, heavy loads and other complex operations” over time.
Robotics on the Rise
Rivian Automotive Inc. founder RJ Scaringe is also eyeing the use of robotics in automotive manufacturing.
Scaringe’s side project Mind Robotics launched in Palo Alto in 2024 and to date has raised more than $1 billion in funding.
The startup is building AI-enabled robotic models, hardware and deployment infrastructure for future vehicle production to replace existing industrial robotics.
Rivian is the firm’s major shareholder with Scaringe leading as chairman.
“As AI enters the physical world, we believe the largest, at-scale application for advanced robotics will be across the industrial sector,” Scaringe said in a statement.
“We’re building robots that will perform real tasks, in real plants, at real scale,” Scaringe added.
Scaringe told the Wall Street Journal in March that Mind Robotics will deploy a large number of robots, which should be capable of picking up parts and assembling components in the factory, by the end of the year.
— Emily Santiago-Molina
