Humanoid Robots Explained: What They Can Do Today and What Is Still Staged

Humanoid robots can now do a small number of repetitive jobs in controlled workplaces. Examples include loading metal parts into a fixture or moving plastic totes. At least one robot has kept at it for months. Humanoids cannot yet handle general factory or household work on their own. As of October 2026, the first question to ask about any robot video is who or what was in control.

What can humanoid robots do today?

The best documented work is narrow and industrial. Figure says its Figure 02 robot spent 11 months at BMW's plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina. It says the robot ran 10-hour weekday shifts and loaded more than 90,000 sheet-metal parts across roughly 1,250 hours of runtime. The company set a goal of zero human interventions per shift, though its report does not give the achieved rate. It said the forearm was the hardware that failed most. BMW puts the run at ten months and reports the same part and hour totals. It still calls its humanoid programs in Spartanburg and Leipzig pilot projects. In June 2026 Figure said its newer Figure 03 had started sorting parts there, in what it called a first demonstration.

Agility Robotics reports comparable results in logistics. The company said in November 2025 that its Digit robots had moved more than 100,000 totes at a GXO logistics facility. In February 2026 Toyota's Canadian manufacturing arm contracted seven Digits to unload totes of auto parts after a year-long pilot, TechCrunch reported.

These are single tasks, repeated. The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) reports that about 7,000 full-size humanoids were sold worldwide in 2025 for commercial and professional use. Full-size means taller than 140 centimeters. The IFR describes most current applications as specialized.

Are humanoid robots remote controlled?

Often, at least part of the time. Teleoperation means a person steers the robot from somewhere else. The IFR says current humanoid applications often require it.

A widely reported example came at Tesla's October 2024 robotaxi event. Optimus robots served drinks and chatted with guests there. TechCrunch, citing Bloomberg and The Verge, reported that the robots were remotely operated by humans. In January 2026, Electrek quoted Elon Musk telling Tesla's earnings call that Optimus was still in research and development. Musk also said it was not used in the company's factories in a material way, according to Electrek.

Teleoperation is not always concealed. 1X takes orders for a home robot called NEO. The company says the machine arrives with basic autonomy. It also says a company expert can supervise the robot remotely, at scheduled times, on complex tasks it has not learned. MIT Technology Review nonetheless argued in February 2026 that robot makers remain opaque about how much human labor stands behind their machines. It said that labor ranges from remote pilots to workers recording movements for training data.

What is physical AI, and how good is it?

Physical AI is the industry's term for AI that perceives and acts in the real world through a machine. In humanoids it usually means a vision-language-action model. In such a model, one neural network takes in camera images and instructions and produces the robot's movements.

Independent benchmarks show how far there is to go. Stanford's 2026 AI Index reports results on BEHAVIOR-1K, a simulated benchmark built from 1,000 household activities. It says the top team in the 2025 challenge fully completed just 12.4% of tasks. On RLBench, a set of 18 short manipulation tasks in a controlled simulation, the best method reached 89.4% as of January 2026. The report says vision-language-action technology remains at the research stage.

Companies report stronger numbers on tests they design themselves. Figure said in September 2026 that its Helix 2.5 model succeeded 56% of the time at tidying, towel folding and bed making. It said the tests ran in 30 homes the model had never seen. Any safety intervention by a person counted as a failure, Figure said. It added that this does not mean general humanoid robotics is solved.

Are humanoid robots ready to be deployed?

For narrow jobs in structured settings, some are. For general work, no. The IFR lists safety standards, high training and maintenance costs, and the lack of a strong business case as key obstacles.

Safety around people is still being engineered. IEEE Spectrum reported in September 2026 on Agility's next robot, Digit 5. Agility says the robot will avoid people, stop, or set down its load and sit when someone comes near, the report said. Agility says that is so the robot cannot fall on them. IEEE Spectrum also noted that Digit 5 was not yet deployed in factories.

Manufacturing at scale is unproven too. Tesla removed wording about Optimus reaching volume production from its second-quarter 2026 shareholder letter, TechCrunch reported. Musk described the robot as the hardest product the company has tried to scale.

The bottom line

The documented record so far is a small number of robots doing one job each in structured settings. Those jobs are often still labeled pilots. Stanford's AI Index observes that companies mostly announce what their robots will do and offer little verified operating data. When a new demo appears, the facts that matter are:

• Whether the robot acted autonomously.
• How long it ran.
• How many units were involved.
• Whether anyone other than the manufacturer has confirmed the result.