GXO Logistics announced a Letter of Intent with robotics developer Apptronik on November 12, 2026, outlining plans to deploy up to 1,000 Apollo humanoid robots over the next four years. Under a Robotics-as-a-Service framework, expanded live warehouse trials will start in 2027, followed by initial North American rollouts in late 2027.
Starting in 2027, GXO and Apptronik will test Apollo humanoids across five core warehouse workflows: goods-to-person picking, person-to-goods picking, case and tote movement, packing, and sortation. Each use case will be evaluated against jointly agreed productivity, safety, and operational KPIs before scaling.
GXO Chief Executive Patrick Kelleher said humanoid robots are the latest evolution of intelligent automation, and their increasing dexterity will make them one of the most transformative applications of physical AI in logistics. The service-based RaaS model avoids heavy upfront capital outlays for GXO clients. The two companies began collaborating in 2024 with a warehouse proof-of-concept program. Earlier in 2026, Apollo completed a U.S. pilot focused on autonomous picking of small consumer goods. Engineers also evaluated Apollo across more than 50 logistics tasks at Apptronik's Robot Park training facility in Austin, Texas, validating payload and cycle-time benchmarks.
Apptronik CEO and co-founder Jeff Cardenas said GXO's global footprint of over 1,000 facilities and 200 million square feet provides the operational discipline required to scale humanoid fleets. GXO employs more than 150,000 workers globally. Management emphasized that deploying Apollo for repetitive, physically demanding chores will help address persistent warehouse labor gaps while letting human staff focus on higher-value supervision.
