The Atlas Robot Is Dead. Long Live the Atlas Robot

Before the dear old model could even power down, Boston Dynamics unleashed a stronger new Atlas robot that can move in ways us puny humans never can.

Old robots never die, they simply fade away. (And probably rust a bit.) This week, Boston Dynamics said adieu to HD Atlas, the human-ish robot that debuted over a decade ago. And then promptly introduced its replacement.

For years, Atlas has scared us silly with cutesy dance moves and parkour flips that we just knew would one day lead to our annihilation as a species. The robopocalypse never came, of course, and Atlas just got cuter the more it fell off boxes, bounced off tables, rolled down grass hills, and jived to Dirty Dancing tracks.

Yet before Atlas even had a chance to power down properly, yesterday’s retirement film was followed up today with a 40-second short revealing the “All ...