Elon Musk’s Tesla is shifting from a car company to a robot company. Its Optimus humanoid robot has plenty of company, with everyone from Unitree and Agibot to LG and Hyundai showing off new concepts and products at CES 2026. But without successful “world” AI models, the humanoid robot may not be ready for ubiquity.

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REFERENCES:

The Guardian on Tesla abandoning the X and S https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/jan/28/tesla-q4-earnings-estimates-elon-musk

Wired on Fauna’s Sprout https://www.wired.com/story/humanoid-robot-butler-sprout-fauna/

Engadget on Agibot’s A2 and X2 https://www.engadget.com/ai/agibots-humanoid-robots-can-give-directions-and-learn-your-tiktok-dances-045049798.html

BGR on Unitree’s G1 https://www.bgr.com/2083491/china-agibot-humanoid-robot-us-competition/

TechCrunch on LG’s CLOiD https://techcrunch.com/2026/01/08/i-watched-lgs-new-home-robot-cloid-do-laundry-but-i-have-questions/

Interesting Engineering on Hyundai’s Atlas https://interestingengineering.com/ai-robotics/hyundais-atlas-humanoid-wins-top-honor

Elon Musk’s tweet about people only remembering Tesla’s robots https://x.com/elonmusk/status/2011679509628457408