Why is BMW using humanoid robots?

02 June 2026

For my latest article for the BBC's Technology of Business site, I report on BMW's trial using Aeon humanoid robots at its Leipzig plant in Germany. It's the first time BMW has used humanoid robots in Europe, although it has previously used Figure O2 robots in the US.

I was interested to discuss why humanoid robots exist, given the range of other shapes available.

“We started with different form factors and we landed on a humanoid,” said Arnaud Robert, president of robotics at Hexagon, which makes the AEON robot.

The AEON robot is multipurpose, able to carry out tasks including manipulation, inspection, and reality capture. “[Humans] evolved in such a way that we can do a lot of very different movements and tasks,” says Robert. “You need a [robot] form factor that's quite adaptable. And if you had fixed legs, for example, it limits you quite a bit.” AEON’s legs are jointed and bend so it can access things low down.

For BMW, a big part of the appeal is that you don't have to redesign the workplace. Adapting the production line for new robots is expensive, and humanoid robots can easily operate at the existing work stations.

“We come from a very long industrialization journey in robotics in the automotive industry," said Michael Nikolaides, head of process management and digitalisation, BMW. "This is the next level in automation and artificial intelligence in production.”

To find out more about how BMW and other car makers are using robots, read the article on the BBC site.

If you share my interest in robots, you might enjoy this video I made for my song We Work to Earn Our Sleep, from my album Artificial. The album explores what happens beyond AI, when robots acquire emotions. The album was released in 2019 and was created without using any AI.

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