# Army Selects Five Humanoid Robotics Teams

The U.S. Army selected five companies for demonstrations of humanoid robotics and subsystem technologies through its xTechHumanoid competition. The competition’s finals were held September 10, 2026, and winners were announced September 29; the extracted information lists awards of $25,000 per finalist across 10 finalists. The Army is using the competition to assess commercial capabilities and identify gaps between desired military performance and current technology. No follow-on solicitation or production contract is reported.

- The competition points to potential technology entry areas in power systems, sensing, autonomy software, and human-robot interaction, but does not represent a production award.
- Companies developing these capabilities can use the Army’s experimentation as an indication of military user needs and current performance gaps when shaping relevant offerings.
- The Army describes xTech as a way to survey industry and accelerate promising technologies; contractors should distinguish this competitive demonstration opportunity from a funded follow-on requirement.

**Jurisdictions:** federal
**Industries:** Defense & Military
**Topics:** Artificial Intelligence
**Published:** October 19, 2026

### Government Entities
- United States Army (U.S. Army)
- United States Marine Corps (USMC)

### Vendors
- ACES Group (competition awardee)
- IHMC Robotics (competition awardee)
- Hydroplane Limited (competition awardee)
- Ras Labs (competition awardee)
- Velocity Explorations (competition awardee)

### Key Quotes
> xTech is our method of surveying the industry landscape and fast-tracking promising technology rather than falling victim to years-long studies.
> — Alex Miller, U.S. Army Chief Technology Officer

> The individual things that were outlined were, in any one element, beyond what is possible given the current state of the art.
> — Robert Griffin, Senior Researcher at IHMC Robotics

### Sources
- [US Army competition explores military uses for humanoid robots](https://www.defensenews.com/industry/techwatch/2026/10/16/us-army-competition-explores-military-uses-for-humanoid-robots) - Defense News