Not just AI but it seems we are aggressively moving to the future of humanoid robots and Google is already played its cards early. Why? Google-backed has now launched its latest humanoid robot Apollo 2 and also unveiled a massive new facility for robot training and real-world deployment.
“Welcome to Robot Park, where we’re building the future with Apollo 2. Robot Park is where Apollo learns today, getting the experience needed to make a difference tomorrow,” the company wrote on social media platform X.
“Today we’re announcing Robot Park, our nearly 90,000-square-foot facility where Apollo 2 is collecting real-world training data needed to advance autonomous humanoid robots,” it added.
The US-based startup has opened a nearly 90,000-square-foot facility called Robot Park, developed in partnership with Google DeepMind. The idea is simple — move humanoid robots from limited pilot projects to large-scale real-world use much faster.
At Robot Park, groups of humanoid robots are already working in logistics, manufacturing and retail. While doing these jobs, the robots also collect real-world data that helps improve the AI models that power them.
“We have a factory that produces robots, we also have a factory that produces data,” Apptronik CEO Jeff Cardenas told Reuters.
Along with the new facility, Apptronik has also introduced Apollo 2 — latest humanoid robot built that can move, pick up objects and interact with people in real-world environments. It is available in both two-legged and wheeled versions.
According to Reuters, Apollo 2 has already been in use for more than a year to collect real-world data for the company.
The data collected at Robot Park is being used to train Gemini Robotics, Google’s AI model for robots, as part of Apptronik’s research partnership with Google DeepMind.
The report said this data will help make future humanoid robots smarter and more capable. Cardenas also revealed that Apptronik has built hundreds of Apollo 2 robots but did not share exact deployment numbers.
“We’ll continue to pilot through this year, and then we’ll start to see real production versions … in 2027 and beyond,” as per Reuters.
Meanwhile, Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com has already issued a warning over the future of delivery jobs. Its founder Richard Liu reportedly said that robots will eventually replace human couriers.
The company currently has around 700,000 delivery workers and Liu believes robots will eventually take over delivery jobs, according to a report by the Financial Times.
(With inputs from Reuters)
