Two humanoid robots have successfully performed complete laparoscopic gallbladder removals on live pigs under remote human control, marking the first time general-purpose humanoid machines have executed full surgical procedures on living tissue. The procedures, conducted by researchers at the University of California, San Diego, and published in the journal Nature, saw the robots handle tissue retraction, dissection, suturing and organ extraction—both as an assistant to a human surgeon and, in a second operation, working as a pair without a human at the table. The experiments remain preclinical, with no human trials yet scheduled.

Unlike the 800-kilogram da Vinci surgical systems that dominate robotic operating theatres, the robots used here are modified Unitree G1 humanoids—commercially available machines standing roughly 1.5 metres tall and weighing 27 kilograms. Adapted with custom instrument grips and control software, they are teleoperated by a surgeon wearing a virtual-reality headset and using foot pedals from a remote console. The system costs a fraction of conventional surgical robots and requires no specialised operating-room infrastructure, a combination that researchers in California argue could bring complex surgery to rural clinics, battlefield hospitals and even space missions.

The lead surgeon, Dr Shanglei Liu of UC San Diego School of Medicine, noted that the platform’s low cost and small footprint make it “easy to deploy anywhere.” The study’s authors frame the work as a response to chronic shortages of surgical personnel and growing waiting lists, particularly in remote regions. Viewed from Latin American and Asian media, the development is being read as a potential equaliser for healthcare systems strained by uneven specialist distribution. However, the procedures took considerably longer than conventional laparoscopies, requiring frequent recalibrations, and the teleoperation link still exhibits latency of several hundred milliseconds—well above the 150-millisecond threshold researchers consider optimal.

In a parallel advance that addresses a separate bottleneck, the robotics firm 1X, also based in California, has unveiled a new humanoid hand with 25 degrees of freedom that it says matches or exceeds human dexterity. The hand can pour liquids, sort objects by colour, plug in a USB-C connector and withstand hammer strikes without breaking. 1X’s head of product, Dar Sleeper, described it as “by far the closest hand to human-level dexterity,” and the company says its NEO humanoid, priced at $20,000, will begin shipping to early customers later this year. While the surgical and manipulation breakthroughs come from separate teams, together they sketch a near-future in which dexterous, affordable humanoids could assist or autonomously perform tasks in operating theatres and beyond. The UC San Diego team has not announced a timeline for human surgical trials; the next concrete milestone will be 1X’s first commercial deliveries of NEO robots in 2026.