Jabil outlines humanoid robot production challenges and progress
Jabil Inc., a manufacturing services provider, shared insights into the development and scaling of humanoid robots with The Robot Report. Thomas Brown, Jabil’s senior director for engineering and technology, noted that while early humanoid deployments were low-volume, companies like Tesla, 1X Technologies, XPeng, and UBTECH are now targeting production runs of tens of thousands—requiring cost…
Key points
- Jabil targets humanoid production scaling to tens of thousands, requiring cost cuts and manufacturability improvements
- Compute at the edge remains a bottleneck, with NVIDIA Jetson series as a leading platform for developers
- Brown predicts consumer humanoids may arrive in 5–20 years, focusing on modular, task-specific designs
Brown highlighted compute constraints as a key hurdle, citing NVIDIA’s Jetson series as a popular choice for edge deployment. He emphasized the need for modular, cost-optimized solutions rather than full human-like capabilities, suggesting humanoids could evolve into specialized tools (e.g., mobile arms) for specific tasks. Consumer applications remain speculative, with Brown estimating a timeline of five to twenty years. Safety and policy challenges—including certification, failure modes, and workplace integration—were also noted as critical barriers.
Jabil discusses the pace of humanoid robot development and production
The Robot Report · 8 October 2026
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