NBC’s AGT pushes Spot to perform under pressure

Boston Dynamics showcased its Spot quadruped robots on NBC’s America’s Got Talent (AGT), performing a live, choreographed dance routine to Queen’s “Don’t Stop Me Now.” Five Spots danced synchronously, using their robot arms to “lip-sync” Freddie Mercury’s vocals, impressing all four AGT judges who voted to advance the act. This high-profile appearance was both an entertainment milestone and a rigorous technical stress test for the robots and engineering team. The performance combined autonomous dancing via proprietary choreography software with teleoperated interactions, pushing Spot’s capabilities with aggressive moves like high-speed spins and one-legged balancing. These advanced maneuvers, enabled by recent improvements in reinforcement learning and dynamic behavior modeling, also enhance Spot’s real-world applications, such as maintaining balance on slippery factory floors. The decision to bring Spot to AGT followed successful live performances at the 2024 Calgary Stampede, which built confidence in managing the technical and logistical challenges of a live broadcast. Despite over 100