The World Cup is delivering drama, controversy, and halftime entertainment straight out of science fiction.
Sunday’s showdown between Brazil and Norway featured a surreal cameo from Atlas, the humanoid robot built by US robotics firm Boston Dynamics.
The ultra-flexible robotic biped kicked off the second half of the game, which Norway won 2-0, by handing the match ball to a (slightly baffled-looking) referee.
Atlas also mimicked the goal celebration of towering Norway striker Erling Haaland, which sees the Manchester City player strike a meditation post— although there was no sign of the iconic “robot” celebration popularized by England legend Peter Crouch.
Atlas was one of the earliest humanoid robots to go viral, with Boston Dynamics first unveiling an earlier version of the six-foot, 200-pound android in 2013.
Since then, the company — which is now owned by Hyundai — has shown off Atlas’s ability to do parkour, eerily synchronized dances, and lots and lots of backflips.
In case that wasn’t surreal enough, the latest versions of the robot include fully rotational joints that allow Atlas’s head, torso, and limbs to rotate 360 degrees.
Atlas’ future coworkers at Hyundai’s Georgia factory, where the robot is set to be deployed in the next few years, will be relieved to know that Boston Dynamics at least tried to make Atlas look friendlier than its rivals, many of which are stuck deep in the uncanny valley.
The company’s former CEO, Robert Playter, told Business Insider in January that Boston Dynamics took inspiration from the Pixar lamp to avoid giving Atlas a “scary, dystopian” face.
Atlas’s football debut comes as the hype around humanoid robots continues to grow. The market is still in its infancy but is expected to grow from $3 billion in 2025 to $28 billion in 2030, per Morgan Stanley estimates.
Startups such as Weave, Sunday Robotics, and 1X have announced plans to ship robotic helpers for the home in the coming years, while Tesla’s Optimus robot — which Elon Musk thinks could be the biggest product ever — is also set to enter production this summer.
Elsewhere, Boston Dynamics has had a big presence at this World Cup. The company’s Spot robot dogs have been used for security at the New York-New Jersey stadium.
Attempts to build a robotic footballer that can mix it with Lionel Messi and co have so far not been a success — although a series of videos released by Boston Dynamics for the World Cup suggest Atlas is pretty good with a ball at its feet.
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