Of the AI robots that drew attention in 2021, only some were working machines on the day they were announced. NASA's Ingenuity helicopter flew on Mars on April 19, 2021, Boston Dynamics presented its Stretch warehouse robot on March 29, 2021 and sought pilot customers, Amazon offered its Astro home robot by invitation on September 28, 2021, and Tesla showed a performer in a suit instead of a robot on August 19, 2021. Year-end "top 10" lists mixed all four statuses, so a ranking cannot be built from announcements alone. By October 2026 the four have moved on very differently: Ingenuity's mission is over, Stretch is in multi-site use, Amazon dropped the business version of Astro, and Tesla's robot was still scheduled to start production.
Key takeaways
- Ingenuity completed a 39.1-second autonomous flight at a height of 10 feet (3 meters), the only one of the four examples that had already done its job in public.
- Stretch was announced as a product with pilot customers sought and commercial deployment planned for 2022; DHL Supply Chain announced a USD 15 million agreement on January 26, 2022, and DHL Group signed a May 2025 memorandum for more than 1,000 additional units.
- Astro launched at USD 1,449.99 with an introductory price of USD 999.99, sold to U.S. customers by invitation in limited quantities.
- The Tesla Bot of August 2021 was a plan, with a prototype promised for the following year and no working robot on stage.
- Three questions sort most robot claims: is it for sale, what does it cost, and who tested it other than its maker?
Why 2021 robot lists mix different things
Robot roundups usually put a research probe, a warehouse machine, a consumer gadget, and a concept video in one numbered list. Each belongs to a different stage. A research robot proves that something is possible. A product has a price, a buyer, and a support plan. A concept has neither. The four examples below were chosen because each has a dated primary or authoritative record, and each shows a different stage.
Ingenuity: an autonomous flight on another planet
NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory reported that Ingenuity made the first powered, controlled flight on another planet on April 19, 2021. It climbed to 10 feet (3 meters), hovered for about 30 seconds, and spent 39.1 seconds in the air in total. Radio delay meant it could not be flown with a joystick, so onboard guidance, navigation, and control software piloted it. A downward-facing navigation camera tracked the ground during flight to keep the aircraft steady.
The mission was planned as a technology demonstration of no more than five test flights in 30 days. NASA's mission page records 72 flights in all, with the last on January 18, 2024, and an announcement on January 25, 2024 that the mission had ended. Ingenuity is a case of a robot whose early claims were later checked against a long flight log.
Stretch: a product announcement with a pilot program
Boston Dynamics announced Stretch on March 29, 2021 as its first commercial robot designed for warehouses and distribution centers. The release describes a small omni-directional base, a lightweight arm with a gripper, and computer vision that identifies boxes without extensive training for each customer. At that point the company was seeking pilot customers for truck unloading, with commercial deployment planned for 2022. No customer was named in the release.
The follow-through is documented. On January 26, 2022, the company announced that DHL Supply Chain would invest USD 15 million, with first units set for spring 2022 and a fleet delivered to multiple North American warehouses over three years. The announcement and the delivery plan came ten months apart, which is a normal gap for industrial equipment.
Astro: a consumer robot sold by invitation
Amazon announced Astro on September 28, 2021 as a household robot. Its listed price was USD 1,449.99, with an introductory price of USD 999.99 through the Day 1 Editions program, which included a six-month trial of the Ring Protect Pro subscription. Amazon said units would be limited and that it planned to begin granting invitations and shipping to U.S. customers later that year.
Amazon described the AI features in plain terms. Astro maps its home with simultaneous localization and mapping (SLAM), uses a feature called Visual ID, in which a computer vision model learns to recognize household members, and can alert the owner to an unrecognized person. Amazon said much of the image and sensor processing happens on the device, and that a button turns off the microphones and cameras. These are the company's own statements, not independent tests.
Tesla Bot: a plan with a dancer
At Tesla AI Day on August 19, 2021, the company announced a humanoid robot. News coverage reported the planned specifications as 5 feet 8 inches (173 centimeters) tall and 125 pounds (57 kilograms), able to walk at 5 miles per hour (8 kilometers per hour) and deadlift 150 pounds (68 kilograms). A prototype was expected in 2022. The reveal was a performer in a bodysuit and mask who danced on stage, and no working robot was shown.
The figures were targets, not measurements. A claim about a machine that does not yet exist can be recorded, but it cannot be rated.
What changed since 2021
Ingenuity is finished: NASA ended the mission on January 25, 2024 after 72 flights. Stretch moved from pilots to repeat orders. In a memorandum of understanding dated May 13, 2025, DHL Group and Boston Dynamics set out a path to more than 1,000 additional Stretch units worldwide. Boston Dynamics said Stretch had first reached the market in North America in 2023, and that deployments had reached the UK and the rest of Europe. It also cited container unloading of up to 700 cases per hour. An MOU is a statement of intent, and the release gives no total for Stretch units now in service.
Amazon's record is mixed. On July 3, 2024, News coverage reported that Amazon was retiring Astro for Business, the security version sold to small companies, about seven months after launch. Those robots stopped working on September 25, 2024, and customers received a USD 300 credit. Amazon said it would stay committed to the home robot. The current availability and price of the home Astro in 2026 could not be verified and are not stated here.
For Tesla's humanoid, now called Optimus, the 2022 prototype date passed long ago. On Tesla's first-quarter 2026 earnings call on April 22, 2026, according to Electrek, Elon Musk said production would begin at the Fremont factory in late July or August 2026, that initial output would be quite slow, and that the third-generation reveal had slipped to around mid-year. Whether those dates were met is not confirmed by a primary Tesla document, so no later status is given.
Status of the four examples
| Robot | Date | Status that day | Status by October 2026 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ingenuity | April 19, 2021 | Operating on Mars | 72 flights, mission ended January 25, 2024 |
| Stretch | March 29, 2021 | Product, pilots sought | In customer use; DHL MOU for 1,000+ more units, May 13, 2025 |
| Astro | September 28, 2021 | Invitation-only sale | Business version retired in 2024; home version not verified |
| Tesla Bot | August 19, 2021 | Concept | Production start announced for mid-2026; outcome not verified |
Questions that sort any robot list
- Could a customer buy it on the day of the announcement, and in which country?
- Is a price published, and what does it include?
- Does the source describe the AI component by name, such as vision or mapping, or only say "AI-powered"?
- Were the results measured by someone other than the maker?
- Does the robot work alone, or does a person step in during the demonstration?
FAQ
Which AI robot of 2021 was the most advanced?
No source ranks them. The four robots do different jobs in different places, and a flying probe, a box mover, a home assistant, and a concept humanoid cannot be scored on one scale.
Was the Tesla Bot ever built as announced?
The August 2021 event showed no working robot. Later prototypes under the Optimus name are separate events and have to be judged by their own demonstrations and records. In April 2026 Tesla still described production as about to begin.
Is Ingenuity an AI robot?
It is an autonomous robot. NASA describes onboard software that handled guidance and navigation using camera images, though NASA does not label the system as AI. The label depends on how broadly the term is used.
Why does a launch date matter in a robot article?
Prices, features, and availability change after launch. A statement dated 2021 describes what a maker promised then, and later pages or independent tests are needed to check it.
Related reading
- A review of Artificial Intelligence for Dummies
- Whether artificial intelligence should be capitalized
- What the European Commission says about AI
- AI and the concern over job displacement
More in AI Basics.
Last verified: October 2026
Sources
- NASA's Ingenuity Mars Helicopter Succeeds in Historic First Flight, NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, April 2021
- Ingenuity Mars Helicopter mission page, NASA Science, 2024
- Boston Dynamics unveils new robot for warehouse automation, Boston Dynamics press release, March 29, 2021
- DHL Supply Chain to invest USD 15 million in Boston Dynamics collaboration, Boston Dynamics press release, January 26, 2022
- Meet Astro, a home robot unlike any other, Amazon, September 2021
- Top five highlights of Elon Musk's Tesla AI Day, August 19, 2021
- DHL Group Signs MOU for 1,000-Robot Deployment, Boston Dynamics, May 13, 2025
- Amazon retires its Astro for Business security robot after only 7 months, July 3, 2024
- Tesla pushes Optimus V3 reveal later this year, Electrek, April 22, 2026