Boston Dynamics’ newest robot is scarily agile

Meet Atlas, Boston Dynamics’ newest and most agile robot.

It has 28 joints and weighs around 80 kg, basically the same weight as an average male human.

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In the clip shared by Boston Dynamics, Atlas can be seen performing a variety of simple tasks.

Mind you, it’s not so much what the robot does, it’s how it does it.

Atlas can pick up planks and tool bags and haul them around, which is impressive.

And then it gets more impressive, and borderline scary, as Atlas begins showing off his physical abilities.

Atlas can do a 180 jump squat while carrying heavy items, it can perform upward and downward jumps, and it can throw heavy items around with ease.

And last but not least, it can do a backflip.

When the video was shared to Instagram and YouTube, people began flooding the comment section with mixed feelings.

As a piece of human engineering, Atlas is certainly remarkable but it’s unsettling to see what it can do.

The fact that we’re being bombarded with news about AI-powered chatbots and videos of robot dogs buying expensive fashion accessories isn’t helping either.

“I love Atlas and I am petrified of him at the same time,” one user said.

“When you consider how many muscles have to work in unison just to keep the human body upright, the fact that this has been duplicated by a machine is phenomenal,” wrote another.

Another user even suggested an Atlas X ChatGPT collab.

Some users began wondering whether the video was scripted or digitally enhanced in any way.

“Why do all these videos look fake?” asked another.

Other users resorted to irony.

“That backflip is gonna be really useful on a construction site,” one user pointed out.