Figure and Agility lead the humanoid robot race in 2026

Figure AI and Agility Robotics boast better documented deployment of humanoid robots than Tesla Optimus. Technology.org came to this conclusion after analyzing the real state of affairs in July 2026.

Reality versus loud statements

The review authors separated operating data published by companies from widely circulated statements about the number of units issued. The conclusion is restrained: industrial humanoid robots do exist, but so far they are concentrated on a small number of specific sites.

The article notes that Tesla has never published production data for Optimus. Claims that the company has produced 50 thousand robots, Figure has deployed 10 thousand, and more than a thousand Optimus work on Tesla lines have no official confirmation.

Tesla's position: training, not work

At Tesla's Q4 2025 earnings call on January 28, 2026, Elon Musk stated that Optimus "is not used in any significant way in our factories." According to him, robots are needed primarily for learning, and not for productive work.

This is an important watershed for 2026: a robot can be on the shop floor, collecting data, but not replacing human labor in any measurable way. Tesla remains the least verified major program.

Optimus production problems

Technology.org reports that Tesla planned to produce 5,000 Optimus for internal use in factories in 2025. However, according to The Information, actual output by mid-2025 was a few hundred - less than ten percent of the target.

Reasons include China's export restrictions on rare earth magnets, introduced in April 2025, and the delayed finalization of the Gen 3 design, especially the high-mobility hand part.

At the Q1 2026 earnings call on April 22, Musk said production of Optimus in Fremont would begin in late July or August. At the same time, he warned that the first batches will be small, and it is impossible to name the annual production volume - there are too many unique parts, about 10 thousand, on the new line.

As of mid-July 2026, the review noted, production of Optimus in Fremont had not started. Tesla's second-quarter report, released July 2, didn't include a single figure for Optimus. In January 2026, at a forum in Davos, Musk suggested that public sales would begin no earlier than the end of 2027.

Figure and Agility: the most transparent indicators

Figure has the most convincing data - it was provided by the BMW Group plant in Spartanburg. According to a November 2025 Figure report cited by Technology.org, the Figure 02 robot completed an eleven-month pilot program. He logged more than 1,250 hours, loaded more than 90,000 sheet metal parts and took approximately 1.2 million steps while producing more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles.

The robot worked in ten-hour shifts from Monday to Friday, placing metal parts into welding fixtures with an accuracy of five millimeters. Figure reports placement accuracy greater than 99 percent per shift and cycle time of 84 seconds.

Full-scale production is still a long way off, but this is one of the most concrete documented cases of a humanoid robot performing repetitive work on a live automotive line.

Figure had already retired Model 02 and transferred Figure 03 to the logistics sorting task at the same BMW plant. In addition, BMW has created a Competence Center for Physical AI in Manufacturing and plans to expand the use of humanoid robots to the Leipzig plant from summer 2026.

Agility Robotics has a wider documented reach. The company says Digit has logged more than 65,000 hours at nine customer sites. Commercial clients include GXO, Schaeffler, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada and Mercado Libre. The RoboFab plant in Salem, Oregon is designed to produce up to 10,000 Digits per year at full capacity.

Unitree: volumes without profit

Unitree Robotics is the complete opposite of Western industrial humanoid robot programs. Technology.org writes that the Hangzhou company has shipped about 5.5 thousand humanoid robots of the entire line in 2025, and sets a goal of 10 to 20 thousand units for 2026. The G1 model starts at $16,000 - about ten times cheaper than full-size Western platforms.

In June 2025, Unitree raised investment at a valuation of $1.3 billion in a round led by ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent. The company has received approval to list on STAR Market, a Chinese technology exchange.

However, volumes do not protect against pressure on margins. Unitree's net income fell 52 percent in the first quarter of 2026 compared with the same period last year - even as shares of the maker of humanoid robots rose on the back of orders for Optimus and the approval of Unitree's IPO.

What's next

The next important milestone is Tesla's second quarter report, which will be released on July 22, 2026. By then, investors will have a better idea of ​​whether the Optimus line in Fremont is already entering production or is still preparing for it.