Toyota is betting $6.4 billion a year on humanoid robots and factory automation

Toyota plans to deploy 400,000 robots as part of a $6.4 billion annual investment plan, according to the Financial Times, and its AI robotics spinout Walden Robotics went public in July with a $1.1 billion valuation and $300 million in funding. Goldman Sachs analysts estimate Toyota could capture three to eight percent of the humanoid robot market by 2035, competing with Tesla, Xpeng, and Hyundai, which plans to start building its Atlas robot in the US in 2028. A Toyota executive says the company's own factories come first for deployment because the environment is easier to control, while investors note Toyota has fallen short of expectations before with hydrogen cars and solid-state batteries.