Toyota Has Workers Train Humanoids for a 400,000-Robot Upgrade

Toyota is preparing a factory-automation push aimed at 400,000 robots across its plants and group companies. At the center of its humanoid work, factory employees are teaching ELEY robots the precise hand movements used on assembly lines, while Toyota says the machines are meant to coexist with workers rather than replace them.

The training is hands-on. ELEY is a wheeled humanoid with two hands for manipulation, and workers are teaching it assembly tasks requiring precise movements. According to Nikkei Asia reporting cited by Ars Technica, workers use jigs based on the robots’ fingers during that instruction.

The planned rollout is far larger than the currently described ELEY training. Toyota aims to place 150,000 robots in its automotive plants and 250,000 more at group-company facilities that make components and materials. Nikkei Asia reported that Toyota Motor group plans to invest $6.42 billion annually in factory robot upgrades beginning in 2028.

a world where robots coexist with humans, rather than replacing them

Hiroki Nakajima, Toyota executive vice president

The robot target is not a humanoid target

Toyota has not disclosed how many of its planned 400,000 machines will be humanoids, or how many robots it has already deployed overall. The headline number therefore covers a broader factory-robotics plan, not a stated count of ELEY-style machines. It also includes sites beyond Toyota’s own automotive assembly plants.

A workforce remains central to the plan

Toyota has 18,000 veteran workers across 60 factories worldwide, including 11 manufacturing plants in the United States. The company’s choice to have workers train ELEY machines puts people directly in the initial teaching process. Nakajima’s statement describes Toyota’s intended relationship between people and robots, rather than a disclosed allocation of future responsibilities.