Toyota orders workers to train humanoid robots but says humans won't be replaced

Toyota workers are already helping to train humanoid robots as part of the automaker’s race to eventually deploy 400,000 factory robots—but a Toyota executive said the robotic push is not meant to directly replace humans.

Starting in 2028, the Toyota Motor group aims to start investing $6.42 billion every year in upgrading factories with the new robotic workforce, according to Nikkei Asia. The company wants to put 150,000 robots in its own automotive plants and deploy another 250,000 at group company facilities that produce various components and materials.

Toyota has already begun deploying some of its ELEY humanoid robots across assembly lines to learn from human workers. Nikkei Asia reported that workers are teaching the robots, which roll around on wheels, to perform tasks requiring precise hand movements by wearing “jigs” based on the humanoids’ fingers.

That naturally raises questions about the future of the Japan-based automaker’s human workforce, which has 18,000 veteran workers across 60 factories worldwide, including 11 US manufacturing plants. But Hiroki Nakajima, a Toyota executive vice president, told Nikkei Asia that the company aims for “a world where robots coexist with humans, rather than replacing them.”

It’s unclear how many robots Toyota has already deployed overall or how many of the new robots will be humanoids. But the automotive industry has been a leading adopter of industrial robots for decades, with such robots typically being robotic arms installed at workstations and mobile robots that move components or materials around.

China alone deployed 2 million industrial robots in 2024, with Japan coming in second at 450,500 robots, according to the International Federation of Robotics. The United States and South Korea ranked third and fourth with 34,200 robots and 30,600 robots, respectively.

The automotive industry’s turn toward humanoid robots is a more recent trend that goes beyond specialized industrial robots. Companies are betting that humanoid robots can eventually become general-purpose, autonomous robots that can handle many different tasks and fit more easily into workplaces already designed for humans.

But many AI and robotic hardware challenges remain, along with operational challenges such as safety around humans, before humanoid robots can be deployed more widely. It is also unclear how cost-effective such robots will be compared to employing human workers, and robotic companies have only recently begun to attempt mass production of humanoid robots.

Toyota’s ELEY robot is a humanoid robot that rolls around on wheels and has two hands for manipulation tasks.

Credit: Toyota

Still, the automotive industry is likely to continue deploying more robots as it retools assembly lines to produce electric vehicles and other modern vehicles that incorporate more computers and chips. Automakers are also grappling with certain skilled labor shortages and an aging human workforce—although the push to deploy more robots and AI has generated backlash from labor unions concerned about layoffs and pressure on worker compensation.

Many automakers are developing or investing in their own humanoid robots, including Chinese electric vehicle makers such as Xpeng and Nio. South Korean automaker Hyundai plans to begin deploying Atlas humanoid robots developed by its US robotics subsidiary Boston Dynamics starting in 2028, with the goal of having up to 25,000 such robots in Hyundai and Kia plants worldwide over the next few years.

On September 21, Boston Dynamics announced it had launched a new robotics training center at Hyundai Motor Group Metaplant America, an electric vehicle production facility in Georgia. That facility is designed to help train the Atlas robots on tasks such as sequencing automotive parts and placing the components in the correct order for assembly.