What Happened

GXO Logistics and Agility Robotics announced on October 26, 2026 an expansion of their partnership to deploy Agility's Digit humanoid robots at two additional US logistics sites, in Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee. Deployments at both facilities are expected to begin in early 2027.

The expansion builds directly on the companies' original agreement, signed in June 2024, to deploy Digit robots at a GXO warehouse in Flowery Branch, Georgia — which the companies describe as the industry's first formal commercial deployment of humanoid robots in live operations and the first Robots-as-a-Service (RaaS) agreement specifically for humanoid robots.

The Track Record Behind the Expansion

At the Flowery Branch facility, Digit has moved more than 100,000 totes, working alongside GXO's existing automation to place them onto conveyors. It's worth putting that figure in perspective: a hundred thousand totes accumulated over roughly two years is modest by typical warehouse volume standards, meaning this expansion matters less for the sheer scale of material handled so far and more as a signal that humanoid robots can be rolled out reliably across multiple, separate sites — a genuinely different test than proving the technology works in one controlled location.

Agility Robotics said Digit has logged more than 65,000 hours of real-world operation across its commercial deployments and customer programs to date.

What the Robots Will Actually Do

At the two new sites, Digit will handle repetitive material-handling tasks supporting e-commerce fulfilment operations — the same general role it performs at Flowery Branch. Deployments will start with the current Digit 4 series robots, with plans to transition to Digit 5, which Agility unveiled in September 2026, once that newer model becomes commercially available.

The partnership operates under the Robots-as-a-Service model, meaning GXO pays for robot capacity and support rather than purchasing the hardware outright, with the robots managed through Agility Arc, the company's cloud-based platform for fleet management and integration with customer operations.

What Both CEOs Said

GXO chief executive Patrick Kelleher framed the expansion around proven value: "Together, we've helped pioneer the use of humanoid robotics in the warehouse and this expansion reflects our confidence in the technology's ability to create measurable value for our customers and a better working environment for our teams."

Agility Robotics CEO Peggy Johnson described a broader shift she sees in customer thinking: "Customers are moving beyond asking whether humanoid robots can work to deciding where they can scale them."

Agility's Manufacturing Scale-Up

Behind this specific deal, Agility Robotics has been building out infrastructure to support broader commercial adoption of humanoid robots. The company's RoboFab facility in Salem, Oregon spans roughly 70,000 square feet and is designed to manufacture up to 10,000 robots annually. Agility has separately announced an expansion of its deployment and service capabilities in Pittsburgh.

Agility is also pursuing a public listing, expecting to list on Nasdaq through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a transaction reportedly due to close in the fourth quarter of 2026 — meaning this GXO expansion is landing at a moment when Agility itself is scaling up both its manufacturing capacity and its corporate structure simultaneously.

What's Still Unconfirmed

It's worth being clear-eyed about what this announcement does and doesn't establish. The joint release does not specify how many robots will be installed at each new site, the pricing terms of the expanded service agreement, or a precise site-by-site implementation schedule — only that deployments are targeted for "early 2027." It also does not establish that a humanoid robot carries out every stage of fulfilment at these sites, or that the new facilities will use an identical configuration to Flowery Branch.

What This Means for Warehouse Operators and Logistics Customers

  • This remains a planned expansion, not a live deployment yet. With robots not expected to begin operating at the new sites until early 2027, customers evaluating GXO's capabilities today should treat this as a near-term roadmap item rather than current operational capacity.
  • Multi-site rollout is the real signal to watch, not the tote count. The more significant development here isn't the volume moved so far — it's whether Agility and GXO can successfully replicate a working humanoid deployment across different facilities with different layouts and workflows, which is a harder operational problem than running one pilot site well.
  • Watch for the Digit 4-to-Digit 5 transition as a technology maturity signal. Starting new sites with the current-generation Digit 4 before transitioning to Digit 5 suggests the newer model isn't yet fully commercially available — tracking when that transition actually happens may offer a useful indicator of how quickly Agility's technology is maturing.
  • Agility's Nasdaq listing could affect the pace of future expansion. If the planned merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI closes as expected in Q4 2026, the resulting public listing and associated capital could influence how quickly Agility scales manufacturing and takes on new logistics customers beyond GXO.
  • This fits a broader 2026 pattern of physical AI entering mainstream logistics operations. Alongside the AI-driven software tools we've covered from DHL, Descartes, and Flexport this year, humanoid robotics represents the physical-world counterpart to that same shift — automation increasingly handling routine tasks across both digital and physical logistics workflows.

Key Takeaways

  • GXO Logistics and Agility Robotics announced an expanded partnership on October 26, 2026, to deploy Digit humanoid robots at two new US sites: Statesville, North Carolina, and Lebanon, Tennessee.
  • Deployments are expected to begin in early 2027, starting with Digit 4 robots before transitioning to the newer Digit 5 model.
  • The expansion builds on a June 2024 Robots-as-a-Service agreement at GXO's Flowery Branch, Georgia facility, where Digit has moved more than 100,000 totes.
  • Agility reports Digit has logged more than 65,000 hours of real-world commercial operation across its programs.
  • Agility's RoboFab facility in Salem, Oregon can manufacture up to 10,000 robots annually; the company expects to go public via merger with Churchill Capital Corp XI in Q4 2026.
  • The announcement does not disclose robot counts per site, pricing, or a detailed implementation schedule for the new facilities.
  • This fits a broader 2026 trend of physical AI and robotics moving from pilot projects into multi-site commercial logistics deployment.