Before Brazil and Norway retook the pitch at New York/New Jersey Stadium for their Round of 16 match on Saturday, something happened at halftime that had never occurred in FIFA World Cup history. A six-foot humanoid robot walked pitchside, performed goal celebrations in the style of Harry Kane, Erling Haaland, Matheus Cunha, and Son Heung-min, then turned to the referee and handed over the match ball.
The robot’s name is Atlas. Built by Boston Dynamics, its appearance at the World Cup—in front of 80,000 people in the stadium and a global television audience—was a process five years in the making.
