BMW, Toyota and JAL begin real-world deployments of humanoid robots

BMW, Toyota and Japan Airlines are no longer talking about humanoid robots as lab projects. In three separate deployments disclosed between November 2025 and May 2026, the companies put humanoids into live factory and airport workflows, with tasks narrowed to repetitive material handling, tote movement and ground operations. The common pattern is not general-purpose autonomy across an entire site, but tightly defined jobs inside existing facilities. Company statements and deployment reports describe the robots as additions to human-led operations rather than replacements. ### Where are the robots actually working? BMW said Figure 02 worked on an active assembly line at BMW Group Plant Spartanburg in South Carolina, where the robot handled sheet-metal loading for welding fixtures. Figure said on November 19, 2025 that the deployment ran every working day, with 10-hour shifts from Monday to Friday. The company said the robots loaded more than 90,000 parts, logged more than 1,250 hours of runtime and contributed to production of more than 30,000 BMW X3 vehicles. (figure.ai) Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada said on February 19, 2026 that it signed a commercial robots-as-a-service agreement with Agility Robotics after a successful pilot. Agility said Digit would support manufacturing, supply chain and logistics operations at Toyota’s facilities. TechCrunch and other industry outlets reported the agreement covered seven Digit robots at Toyota’s Woodstock, Ontario plant after a year-long pilot. (figure.ai) Japan Airlines and JAL Ground Service said on April 27, 2026 that they would begin Japan’s first airport demonstration experiment using humanoid robots in May 2026. The trial at Haneda Airport is being run with GMO AI & Robotics and is aimed at ground handling work including baggage loading, cargo handling, cabin cleaning and, in future phases, operation of ground support equipment. (secure.businesswire.com) ### What do these deployments have in common? Figure described BMW’s first use case as a “classic pick-and-place task” with specific performance targets: an 84-second total cycle, a load time of 37 seconds, placement accuracy above 99% per shift and zero human pauses or resets per shift. Those are factory metrics for a constrained station, not a claim that a humanoid can do every job on the line. (press.jal.co.jp) Toyota and Agility framed Digit in similar terms. Agility said Toyota wanted help with “extremely repetitive and physically taxing tasks” and said the companies would continue assessing additional use cases after the initial deployment. Toyota President Tim Hollander said the company chose Digit after evaluating a number of robots and aimed to improve team member experience and operational efficiency. (figure.ai) JAL used the same logic in a different setting. Its joint release said conventional fixed automation and single-function robots have struggled to adapt to airport spaces and workflows, and said humanoids could be introduced without significant changes to airport facilities or aircraft structures. The first phase focuses on analyzing airport operations and identifying where robots can operate safely. (secure.businesswire.com) ### Why are companies limiting the jobs so tightly? BMW’s published targets show why. Figure said the robot had to place parts within a 5-millimeter tolerance in two seconds while balancing speed, precision and locomotion. The company said lessons from six months of daily runtime fed directly into the design of Figure 03, including changes to wrist electronics after forearm failures emerged as a top hardware issue. (press.jal.co.jp) Agility’s Toyota agreement also points to staged adoption rather than broad rollout. The company said the deal followed a pilot and would be used to support employees in defined manufacturing and logistics tasks. Industry coverage said Toyota’s pilot involved three robots before the company committed to seven more. (figure.ai) ### What happens next at each company? BMW said in March 2026 that it had begun a pilot in Leipzig, Germany, using lessons from Spartanburg to expand physical AI in production. The company said the Leipzig robot, called AEON, is being used for repetitive tasks and material delivery on the line. Agility said Toyota and the robot maker will continue assessing further use cases in automotive production beyond the current deployment. (secure.businesswire.com) JAL said its Haneda project begins with mid-to-long-term phased verification starting in May 2026, with later stages intended to broaden the robots’ role across airport ground operations. (bmwgroup.com)