Highlanders might be synonymous with Scots in most people’s minds, but in Japan that’s a moniker now associated with humanoid robots. Japan’s Mitsubishi has become the latest automaker to join the list of marques ready to put AI humanoid robots to work after teaming up with a start-up robotics company called Highlanders. The Mitsubishi wrinkle is its intention to become a mass producer of AI humanoids, a move that may signal a shift by automakers from being customers of AI robots to becoming manufacturers of AI humanoids.

Meanwhile, human resistance among auto workers is beginning to stiffen as the realization that thousands of humanoid robots will be working on car assembly lines very soon hits home.

Highlanders Inc., a startup with its origins at the University of Tokyo, will help Mitsubishi mass produce AI humanoid robots to the tune of 1,000 per month by the end of 2027, according to Mitsubishi. The Japanese automaker says it will introduce humanoids on an engine manufacturing line at its Kyoto factory. That deployment will allow Mitsubishi to collect data needed for the development of mass-produced humanoids specializing in automobile production. Mitsubishi says it is developing AI humanoids to address a chronic labor shortage created by an ageing population in Japan.

Mitsubishi hopes to become the “lead-off hitter” in Japan for mass production of humanoids, says CEO Takao Kato. Highlanders CEO Hiroya Masuoka notes, “there is no company (in Japan) that can compete with global companies in the realm of physical AI. We want to take a step forward.”

Japanese media reports indicate the Mitsubishi “N” humanoid will stand at 4’7”in height, have five flexible fingers with a grip strength of 6.6 pounds, have 19-degrees of movement and enjoy a walking speed of 1.9 mph. Lidar and a 3D stereo camera will provide environmental awareness. The “N” head looks inspired by a B-series battle droid from Star Wars. The N’s legs and arms are much thicker, however, and appear to be more suitable for largely stationary assembly line work. N uses what Highlanders says is an innovative “think slow, react fast” dual-brain AI architecture meant to help N function more efficiently in real time.

Mitsubishi joins an increasingly long list of automakers worldwide looking to expand humanoid robot use. The list includes marques like Hyundai, Tesla, BMW, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BYD, Xpeng and Xiaomi among those already in the testing phase for humanoids working at auto plants. Mitsubishi’s mass production intentions mirrors to some extent that of South Korea’s Hyundai, which recently absorbed the well-known robotics company Boston Dynamics as a subsidiary, as well as China’s Xpeng automaker, which says it will produce humanoid robots next year. Mitsubishi, which famously traces its lineage to the Zero fighter plane of World War II, has historically sat outside the top 15 automakers worldwide by volume despite the car brand’s domestic popularity. Mitsubishi’s international standing in automobiles also may be imperiled by the swift rise of Chinese auto brands. Meanwhile, analysts expect demand for humanoid robots in Japan to be around 10 million by 2040.

Human workers at auto plants, however, are becoming much more cognizant of the potential threat by humanoids to their jobs as the sheer scale of robot production becomes apparent. In what’s being called the auto industry’s first humanoid robot strike, 35,000 workers at Hyundai’s massive Ulsan complex recently staged a partial walkout over the imminent arrival of Atlas robots made by subsidiary Boston Dynamics in an effort to set the terms of humanoid deployment in advance while they still have leverage. The Atlas robot lives up to its name, reportedly standing at 6’2” in height and weighing 198 pounds. Atlas enjoys 56 degrees of freedom of movement, can easily lift 110 pounds and has a 3.2 meter reach. A swappable battery pack promises four hours of continuous operation. Much of Atlas’s appeal is that it can be assigned various tasks without significant reprogramming and operate in tight spots not suitable for a fixed robotic installation. Boston Dynamics plans to have a production capacity of 30,000 Atlas models by the end of 2028. Hyundai’s auto plants in Georgia will be among the first American facilities to receive Atlas humanoids in 2028, says Hyundai, and are likely to be an integral part of plans for a substantive increase in vehicle production in the state.

Hyundai’s Georgia facilities are non-unionized but the United Auto Workers (UAW) is already taking auto companies like General Motors to task over what the American automaker are coyly renaming “collaborative robots” or “cobots” installed at GM’s Factory Zero facility in Detroit. For UAW president Shawn Fain, AI humanoid robots are about more than jobs.

“We need to be clear about this: we are in a fight for humanity,” Fain recently told a convention of UAW members. The 400,000-strong UAW renegotiates its contracts with Detroit’s Big Three automakers—GM, Ford and Stellantis– in 2028. The UAW promises to be the point man for all unionized jobs affected by AI robots. That puts AI humanoid robots squarely in the middle of the next American presidential election in 2028.