Engineers and computer scientists are developing AI-powered robots that look and act human. Boston Dynamics invited 60 Minutes to watch its humanoid, Atlas, learn how to work at a Hyundai factory.

For several decades, Boston Dynamics has pioneered the development of advanced robots, including humanoids and four-legged systems tested by the military as a way to carry supplies over rough terrain. The company was sold to Google in 2013 and bought by SoftBank in 2017. In 2021, Hyundai acquired a controlling stake.

“The humanoid space has a very, very big hill to climb,” said Cosima du Pasquier, co-founder of Haptica Robotics, which works to give robots a sense of touch. “There's a lot of research that still needs to be solved.”

On the outskirts of Beijing, young Chinese entrepreneur Cheng Hao sits on an indoor soccer pitch – but this turf isn’t for humans. It’s where engineers working for his start-up, Booster Robotics, train human-like robots to play soccer using artificial intelligence – dribbling,

Forget about robots that look like they're straight out of science fiction. ‘Unobtrusive physical AI,’ as the technology is called, could wind up being more pervasive in the real world.

From expressive robot faces to factory deployments, these seven stories shaped how 2025 will be remembered in humanoid robotics.