While the concept of humanoid robots is gaining popularity around the world and major technology giants are entering the market, industry leader Boston Dynamics has announced that it will stop developing the humanoid robot Atlas. After the news was released, it aroused great concern among industry insiders.

On Tuesday local time, Boston Dynamics released a video on YouTube. What is different from the past is that this video is not to show Atlas’s shocking athletic capabilities and latest progress, but to review and say goodbye.

Boston Dynamics said: “For nearly a decade, Atlas has captured our imaginations, inspired the next generation of robotics experts, and transcended many technological barriers in the field. Now it’s time to take a break and take a look back at Atlas, our hydraulic robot. All the work we’ve done so far on the Atlas platform.”

The origins of Atlas date back to 2009, when Boston Dynamics signed a $26 million contract with the U.S. military to produce a bipedal robot originally called PETMAN.

Later, Atlas achieved a series of incredible achievements, starting from walking like a normal person and then walking on rough ground.

Next, he demonstrated his ability to run, dance, carry goods, do backflips, etc. He was also able to maintain balance even when being hit by a stick.

The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) noted: "Atlas is one of the most advanced humanoid robots ever built, but it is essentially a physical shell for the software brain and nerves the team developed."

After entering 2024, the humanoid robot industry will continue to develop. Tesla has released several performance update and iteration videos of its humanoid robot Optimus, and star startup Figure has released its first robot demo powered by a large OpenAI model. Meanwhile, multiple teams at Apple are working on advancing personal robotics, an area that has the potential to become one of Apple's ever-changing "next big things."

Therefore, it is confusing at this moment that Boston Dynamics has announced that it will stop developing Atlas. Some analysts speculate that Atlas’s retirement is not so much an end as a new beginning, with Boston Dynamics preparing to develop more advanced robots.

Boston Dynamics has been working on commercializing Atlas technology for years, a trend that has been further accelerated after Hyundai acquired the company in 2021, but the complex hydraulic robots are not consumer friendly.

Atlas has made many advancements over the past decade. However, while many of the system's advancements in locomotion are still impressive, some aspects, such as the hydraulic system, are outdated compared to contemporary robot standards. Now, Boston Dynamics’ latest decision marks the end of a robotics path.

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