Boston Dynamics

Robotics · Automotive Manufacturing · AI

Acquisition

Hyundai buys out SoftBank's Boston Dynamics stake for $325M

Full ownership clears the last hurdle to a U.S. listing and gives Hyundai unchecked control over deploying humanoid robots on assembly lines.

• Hyundai Motor Group will acquire SoftBank's remaining roughly 9.65% stake in Boston Dynamics for about $325 million (500 billion won) after SoftBank exercised a put option from their 2020 agreement.
• Boston Dynamics is the U.S. robotics pioneer behind the Atlas humanoid robot; Hyundai first took an 80% controlling stake from SoftBank in 2021 for about $674 million.
• The 2020 sale agreement gave SoftBank a put option expiring July 20 if Boston Dynamics remained unlisted in the U.S., while Hyundai held a matching call option secured in 2025.
• Sources say Boston Dynamics is now valued at more than 30 trillion won, up sharply from about 1.24 trillion won when Hyundai first bought in back in 2021.
• Hyundai plans to deploy Atlas at its Georgia EV plant starting in 2028 for parts-sequencing, expanding to welding and component assembly by 2030, with capacity for up to 30,000 units a year.
• The buyout lands as Hyundai's South Korean labor union stages partial strikes over wage talks, sharpening the stakes around how aggressively robots replace factory labor.
• Eliminating a minority shareholder gives Hyundai unilateral say over how fast robotics tech gets folded into its factories and positions Boston Dynamics for a U.S. IPO on Hyundai's own timeline.