SALEM, Oregon: Agility Robotics, a maker of AI-powered warehouse robots, plans to go public through a merger that values the company at $2.5 billion, testing investor appetite for humanoid machines designed to work alongside people.

The Oregon-based company announced on June 24 that it intends to merge with a special-purpose acquisition company run by Churchill Capital Group. The transaction is expected to close by the end of 2026.

The deal would make Agility the first publicly traded company focused entirely on developing and selling humanoid robots.

Agility's main product, Digit, is designed to lift, carry and move bins and totes in warehouses and industrial facilities. The company says Digit is already being used commercially, unlike many humanoid robot projects that remain in development.

"Digit is the first humanoid robot employed and commercially operational in warehouse and industrial facilities," said Michael Klein, co-founder and chairman of Churchill Capital Group.

Agility has backing from Amazon, Nvidia, SoftBank and Taiwanese electronics manufacturer Foxconn, Klein said during an investor call. Its early customers include Toyota, industrial parts supplier Schaeffler and Latin American e-commerce company Mercado Libre.

The company is entering a crowded race to develop humanoid robots that can perform physical tasks in factories, warehouses and other workplaces. Its competitors include Tesla, whose chief executive Elon Musk has promoted the company's Optimus humanoid robot as a major future business.

Agility co-founder and chief robot officer Jonathan Hurst said Digit was not designed to resemble a person. "We've never set out to build a machine that looks like a person," Hurst told investors.

Digit has birdlike legs rather than human-shaped ones, while its hands resemble grippers or claws. The design is intended to make the robot more effective at the warehouse work it performs.

Chief Executive Peggy Johnson said the robots are aimed at manual jobs that can be repetitive, physically demanding and prone to injury. "The demand here is large and increasing," she said. "We have companies reshoring production, older workers retiring, and younger generations just not opting for these types of menial jobs."

Agility is also developing future versions of Digit that can work more closely with human employees. Earlier generations of industrial robots are often large, fast-moving machines that must be kept behind barriers for safety reasons.

Hurst said upcoming versions of Digit will be designed to operate alongside people in warehouses and manufacturing facilities, potentially expanding the role of humanoid robots in workplaces facing labor shortages and rising demand for automation.