Atlas joins the Viking Row craze — Hyundai Motor's humanoid robot takes on World Cup fan culture

Atlas, the humanoid robot from Boston Dynamics — a robotics subsidiary of Hyundai Motor Group — has taken on the World Cup's viral fan culture. Fresh off a headline-grabbing appearance at the tournament's halftime show, Atlas is drawing attention again by performing the Viking Row, a Norwegian cheering routine that has swept the globe.

Boston Dynamics recently posted a Viking Row video on its official YouTube channel, captioning it: "The World Cup fever continues!" The roughly 30-second clip shows three Atlas units seated side by side, performing the rowing motion in unison.

In the video, the robots sit on the floor simultaneously, then repeatedly rock their torsos back and forth in a rowing motion. Behind them, about 10 people mirror the movement — as if following along in a yoga class — watching the robots and copying the gesture. It is a reversal of the usual dynamic: instead of robots imitating humans, the humans are taking their cue from the robots.

The Viking Row is a cheering routine that spread from Norway's national team and its supporters during the 2026 North America World Cup. Fans line up seated or standing and repeatedly mimic the motion of rowing a Viking longship in unison. The celebration caught on rapidly inside and outside stadiums as Norway returned to the World Cup for the first time since 1998 and advanced to the quarterfinals.

What stands out in the new clip is the fluidity of the movement. Atlas goes well beyond simply waving its arms — it seamlessly chains together sitting down, leaning back, pulling its arms and returning to the starting position. With all three units moving in the same rhythm, the scene evokes a crew of sailors rowing together aboard a large vessel.

This is not Atlas's first World Cup performance. The robot appeared at halftime of the round-of-16 match between Brazil and Norway at MetLife Stadium in New York on Sunday (local time). It emerged from the players' tunnel, greeted the crowd, then reproduced the signature goal celebrations of global football stars including Son Heung-min, Harry Kane, Erling Haaland and Matheus Cunha. Before the second half kicked off, Atlas handed the match ball to the referee, drawing cheers from the crowd.

The halftime appearance was widely noted as a demonstration of real-world humanoid capability — Atlas maintained its balance and completed its tasks in an open-air stadium, far from a controlled laboratory setting.

The Viking Row video carries a somewhat different message. Where the halftime show was a showcase of technical prowess on a grand stage, the new clip uses World Cup memes and fan culture to present Atlas in a more approachable light. Rather than technical explanation, it lets a cheering routine familiar to football fans worldwide naturally reveal the robot's balance control and full-body coordination.

Boston Dynamics has been releasing a steady stream of Atlas-related videos. Its YouTube channel features a "football skills" series and clips documenting Atlas's learning process, with content continuing to highlight the humanoid robot's ability to acquire movement through football-inspired exercises.

Hyundai Motor is using the World Cup not merely as a vehicle support platform but as a global marketing channel to promote its robotics technology. As an official FIFA sponsor, the company has supplied more than 1,500 vehicles to support tournament operations while also putting Atlas and the four-legged robot Spot front and center.

Spot is carrying out patrol and monitoring duties at major stadiums and the International Broadcast Centre, while Atlas — from goal celebrations to fan cheering routines — is reinforcing the message that Hyundai Motor Group is expanding beyond its identity as an automaker into physical AI and robotics.

Hyundai Motor Group is developing Atlas as a core robot for future manufacturing environments, with the goal of deploying humanoid robots in tasks that are dangerous, difficult or too repetitive for humans. The World Cup performances do not directly demonstrate factory-floor applications, but they serve as a public showcase of how naturally the robot can execute complex, compound movements — sitting, standing, and using its arms and torso simultaneously.

The robotics industry broadly sees humanoid competitiveness shifting beyond simple walking toward fluid, full-body sequential movement. The ability to match the rhythm of people nearby and maintain balance in irregular postures connects directly to the foundational skills needed in factories, logistics operations and service environments. The short clip may ride the wave of World Cup fever, but it carries a deeper message: a demonstration of how naturally a humanoid robot can replicate the everyday movements and cultural behaviors of human beings.