Who is building the most defensible humanoid robotics IP – and in which direction?
Humanoid robots used to be lab experiments. Now they’re stepping onto factory floors – built to walk, grasp, and work alongside people. Familiar names like Tesla and NVIDIA are racing alongside dedicated builders like Boston Dynamics and Figure AI to own this shift.
This directory lists 51 companies based on US patent publications filed after January 1, 2023, covering humanoid robotics technology – spanning locomotion and actuation, dexterous manipulation, embodied AI, perception and sensing, and human-robot interaction. It’s the same patent-first approach behind GreyB Spotlight, our program recognizing the top 1% of innovators across industries.
These aren’t the only names GreyB has recognized – three companies in this directory carry an official distinction.
Boston Dynamics, Sanctuary Cognitive Systems, and UBTech Robotics were named among the industry’s top 1% in GreyB’s 2026 Spotlight Awards, our program recognizing the strongest patent portfolios across 23+ industries. All three appear in the directory below.
Listed alphabetically. Use the filters to explore by country or technology domain.
| Company | HQ Country | Technology Focus | Patent Count |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agama-X Co Ltd | Japan | IP & Patent Strategy Consulting | 8 |
| Ai Inc | USA | Spatial Artificial Intelligence | 11 |
| Apple Inc | USA | Robotics & AI Research (Exploratory) | 4 |
| Apptronik Inc | USA | General-Purpose Humanoid Robots (Apollo) | 11 |
| Beijing Xiaomi Robot Technology Co Ltd | China | General-Purpose Humanoid Robots (CyberOne) | 9 |
| Boston Dynamics Inc | USA | Dynamic Legged Locomotion (Humanoid) | 156 |
| Dextrous Robotics Inc | USA | Bimanual Manipulation (Warehouse) | 7 |
| Disney Enterprises Inc | USA | Animatronics & Character Robotics | 6 |
| Ecovacs Robotics Co Ltd | China | Home Service Robotics | 9 |
| Figure Ai Inc | USA | General-Purpose Humanoid Robots | 61 |
| Flexiv Ltd | USA / China | Adaptive Force-Controlled Robotic Arms | 4 |
| Fujifilm Business Innovation Corp | Japan | Imaging & Sensor Systems | 17 |
| GDM Holding Llc | USA | Robot Learning & Grasping (AI) | 33 |
| Google Llc | USA | AI & Robot Learning Research | 19 |
| Groove X Inc | Japan | Companion Robotics (Bipedal/Emotional) | 11 |
| Hercules Capital Inc | USA | Not an operating robotics company (IP loan collateral) | 5 |
| Honda Motor | Japan | Bipedal Locomotion & Actuation | 61 |
| Hyundai Motors | South Korea | Humanoid Robotics (Boston Dynamics Group) | 13 |
| Intel Corp | USA | AI Computing & Robotics Processors | 12 |
| Intelligent Cleaning Equipment Holdings Co Ltd | Hong Kong | Autonomous Floor-Cleaning Robots (Cobots) | 9 |
| Intrinsic Innovation Llc | USA | Robotics Software & AI Platform | 6 |
| Kawasaki Heavy Industries | Japan | Humanoid Robotics (Kaleido) | 16 |
| Kia Corp | South Korea | Humanoid Robotics (Boston Dynamics Group) | 13 |
| Leland Stanford Junior University | USA | Robotics & AI Research (Academic) | 8 |
| Mbl Ltd | United Kingdom | Culinary Dexterous Manipulation (Robotic Kitchen) | 6 |
| Meta Platforms Technologies Llc | USA | Embodied AI & Robotic Touch Sensing | 12 |
| Midea Group Co Ltd | China | Industrial Robotics (KUKA Group) | 7 |
| Mitsubishi Electric | Japan | Industrial Robotics & Automation Controls | 13 |
| Nant Holdings IP Llc | USA | AI Perception & Object Recognition (IP) | 6 |
| Naver Corp | South Korea | AI & Logistics Robotics Research | 15 |
| Nec Corp | Japan | AI & Service Robotics Research | 15 |
| Nippon Telegraph And Telephone Corp | Japan | AI & Android/Avatar Robotics Research | 15 |
| Nvidia Corp | USA | AI Computing Platforms for Robotics | 54 |
| Omron Corp | Japan | Industrial & Collaborative Robotics | 10 |
| Osaka University | Japan | Android & Humanoid Robotics Research | 10 |
| Panasonic Intellectual Property | Japan | Sensing & Information Processing | 7 |
| Samsung Electronics | South Korea | Humanoid Robotics Investment (Rainbow Robotics) | 27 |
| Sanctuary Cognitive Systems Corp | Canada | Dexterous Manipulation (Humanoid) | 138 |
| Sarcos Corp | USA | Exoskeletons & Teleoperated Manipulation | 30 |
| Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co Ltd | Japan | Semiconductor & Display Technology | 13 |
| Softbank Robotics Europe | France | Humanoid Robotics (NAO / Pepper) | 4 |
| Sony | Japan | Dexterous Manipulation (Robot Hand R&D) | 60 |
| Sony Interactive Entertainment | USA | Companion Robot Actuation & Interaction | 25 |
| Tata Consultancy Services Ltd | India | AI & Robotics Integration Services | 5 |
| Tesla Inc | USA | General-Purpose Humanoid Robots (Optimus) | 16 |
| Toyota Motors | Japan | Humanoid Telepresence & Actuation | 41 |
| Toyota Research Institute Inc | USA | Embodied AI & Robot Learning | 9 |
| Trinamix Gmbh | Germany | 3D / NIR Sensing for Robot Perception | 12 |
| Ubtech Robotics | China | Industrial Humanoid Robots | 87 |
| Visionnav Robotics | China | Autonomous Navigation & Perception | 27 |
| Warner Bros Entertainment Inc | USA | Social/Companion Robot Interaction | 5 |
No companies match these filters.
A note on company scope
Not every name here builds humanoid robots for a living. Some show up because a single division or subsidiary is quietly patenting in this space – in locomotion, manipulation, embodied AI, perception, or human-robot interaction. That’s the nature of humanoid robotics IP: it cuts across automotive, consumer electronics, entertainment, and academic research alike. Two entries in this dataset reflect a financing or IP-holding role rather than in-house robotics work; both are flagged individually in the verification log.
Browse InsightsGate’s library of patent landscapes, industry reports and conference summaries, or request a custom report for your industry, company or country.
