Toyota orders workers to train humanoid robots while saying humans won’t be replaced

# Quick summary Toyota has started using human workers to train humanoid robots on assembly tasks as part of a plan to deploy up to 400,000 factory robots across its group. The automaker plans to begin a major investment push in 2028, with annual spending of $6.42 billion to retool factories. Toyota says the robots are intended to work with people, not replace them, but important operational, safety, and labor questions are still open.

# What Toyota announced and the scale Toyota plans a large-scale robot rollout: 150,000 robots in its automotive plants and 250,000 across group companies that make parts and materials. The company intends to start investing $6.42 billion a year in factory upgrades beginning in 2028. Public reporting does not specify how many of the new machines will be humanoid versus other industrial or mobile robots.

# How workers are training the robots Toyota's ELEY humanoid robots—wheeled platforms with two manipulators—are being taught by human employees on the line. Workers wear "jigs" shaped to match the humanoid fingers so the robots can learn fine hand movements through imitation. That hands-on training model is already in use at some assembly stations.

# Industry context and comparisons Industrial robots are widely adopted in automotive manufacturing. Reported 2024 deployments: China 2,000,000 robots, Japan 450,500, the United States 34,200, and South Korea 30,600. Automakers are shifting interest toward humanoid robots because they could perform a broader set of tasks in spaces built for humans. Other carmakers, such as Hyundai, plan humanoid deployments too—Hyundai expects to start deploying Boston Dynamics' Atlas in 2028 with a target of up to 25,000 robots across Hyundai and Kia plants.

# Practical problems still to solve Technical: Humanoid hands and general-purpose manipulation remain difficult to scale. Operational: Safety systems are needed for robots working near people. Economic: It's unclear whether mass-produced humanoids will be cost-effective compared with human labor. Organizational: Training, maintenance, and line integration will require new workflows.

# Workforce and labor issues Toyota reports about 18,000 veteran workers across 60 factories worldwide, including 11 U.S. plants. Labor unions have raised concerns about potential job losses and downward pressure on pay when robots are added. Toyota's executive vice president Hiroki Nakajima told Nikkei Asia the company seeks "a world where robots coexist with humans, rather than replacing them," but details on how Toyota will protect jobs, retrain workers, or restructure roles are not specified in the public reporting.

# Why this matters now Automakers are retooling assembly lines for electric vehicles and other modern requirements. That creates both an incentive to automate and an operational need to integrate flexible automation into human-centered factory layouts. The outcome will affect workforce planning, factory investment, and supplier networks.

# Bottom line