Humanoid deployments in 2026 favor Figure and Agility
Figure AI and Agility Robotics have stronger documented humanoid deployment records than Tesla Optimus, according to a Technology.org review of what is actually working in July 2026. The review separates company reported operating data from widely circulated unit claims, and its conclusion is restrained: real industrial humanoid use exists, but it is still concentrated in a small number of named sites.
The article says Tesla has never published an Optimus production count. It also says claims that Tesla has passed 50,000 cumulative Optimus units, that Figure has 10,000 deployments, or that more than a thousand Optimus robots are working on Tesla production lines do not come from the companies involved.
On Tesla’s Q4 2025 earnings call on 28 January 2026, Elon Musk said Optimus was “not in usage in our factories in a material way” and that units were primarily for learning rather than productive tasks. That is a useful dividing line for humanoid deployments in 2026: a robot can be present on a factory floor, collect data, and still not be replacing labor in a measurable way.
Tesla remains the least verified large program
Technology.org reports that Tesla had targeted 5,000 Optimus units for internal factory use in 2025, while reporting by The Information in the middle of 2025 put actual output at a few hundred, below ten percent of the target. The article cites China’s April 2025 export restrictions on rare earth magnets and longer than planned Gen 3 design finalization, particularly around the dexterous hand, as contributing factors.
On the Q1 2026 earnings call on 22 April, Musk said Optimus production at Fremont would begin in late July or August. He also warned that initial output would be slow and said the production rate for the year was impossible to predict, citing 10,000 unique parts across a new line.
As of the middle of July 2026, the review says Fremont Optimus production had not started. Tesla’s Q2 delivery report, published on 2 July, contained no Optimus numbers. Musk indicated at Davos in January 2026 that public sales were likely by the end of 2027.
Figure and Agility have the clearest operating records
Figure’s strongest evidence comes from BMW Group Plant Spartanburg. According to Figure’s November 2025 report cited by Technology.org, the Figure 02 robot completed an eleven month pilot, logged more than 1,250 operating hours, loaded more than 90,000 sheet metal parts, and took roughly 1.2 million steps while supporting production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles.
The robot worked ten hour shifts, Monday through Friday, placing metal parts into welding fixtures to five millimetre precision. Figure reported above 99 percent placement accuracy per shift and an 84 second cycle time. That is still not full scale production, but it is among the more concrete public records of a humanoid doing repetitive work on an active automotive line.
Figure has since retired the 02 units and moved Figure 03 into a logistics sequencing task at the same BMW plant. BMW has also established a Center of Competence for Physical AI in Production and plans to extend humanoid deployment to Plant Leipzig from summer 2026.
Agility Robotics has a broader reported footprint. The company says Digit has accumulated more than 65,000 operating hours across nine customer facilities, with GXO, Schaeffler, Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada and Mercado Libre named as commercial customers. Agility’s RoboFab plant in Salem, Oregon was designed for capacity of up to 10,000 Digit units annually at full output.
Unitree owns the volume story, not the profit story
Unitree Robotics is the clearest contrast to the Western industrial humanoid programs. Technology.org says the Hangzhou company shipped about 5,500 humanoid units across its product line in 2025 and is targeting 10,000 to 20,000 units in 2026. Its G1 humanoid starts around $16,000, roughly a tenth of the price level associated with full size Western platforms.
The company reached a $1.3 billion valuation in June 2025 in a round led by ByteDance, Alibaba and Tencent, and has won approval for a STAR Market listing, China’s technology board IPO route. Volume has not insulated it from margin pressure. Unitree’s Q1 2026 net profit fell 52 percent compared with a year earlier, even as humanoid stocks rallied on Optimus procurement orders and Unitree’s IPO approval.
The next checkpoint is Tesla’s Q2 earnings call on 22 July 2026, when investors should get a clearer read on whether the Fremont Optimus line is actually beginning production or still preparing for it.
Source: technology.org
