Salem-based Agility Robotics unveiled its fifth-generation humanoid robot on Tuesday, Sept. 15, a machine the company says can work alongside people for the first time without safety cages.

The launch of Digit 5 comes as Agility prepares to go public through a $2.5 billion merger deal that could bring more than $620 million into the company. Agility assembles its robots at a 70,000-square-foot Salem factory called RoboFab.

Digit 5 stands 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 284 pounds and can lift up to 50 pounds. It uses sensors and artificial intelligence to detect nearby workers and responds by slowing down, changing course or sitting down, OregonLive reported. Earlier Digits worked behind fences.

"We don't need to run a marathon with this robot. We need to lift heavy things," co-founder and Chief Robot Officer Jonathan Hurst told Business Insider.

The robot runs for 90 minutes on a single charge, then recharges in nine minutes. Agility says that ratio allows more than 20 hours of productive work in a 24-hour day, according to the company's press release.

Agility spun out of Oregon State University's robotics lab in 2015. It employs about 500 people, including 175 in Oregon, and is opening a software office in Fremont, California, that will add 200 positions. RoboFab can produce up to 10,000 robots per year at full capacity, though the company currently builds fewer than 100 annually.

The company plans to go public by merging with Churchill Capital Corp XI, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created by former Citi executive Michael Klein. The deal is expected to generate about $620 million in gross proceeds, combining Churchill's trust fund and a $200 million investment led by Taiwan-based Foxconn, according to GeekWire. The merger is expected to close later in 2026. No shareholder vote date has been announced.

Agility's financials show a company still in startup mode. It reported $1.8 million in revenue in 2025 against a $140.2 million operating loss, according to its S-4 securities filing. Auditor Grant Thornton flagged substantial doubt about the company's ability to keep operating. Agility said that assessment did not account for the SPAC deal's expected cash.

The company says it has more than $300 million in multi-year orders for Digit 5, subject to contractual milestones. GeekWire reported those orders come from a single customer for 1,000 robots over three years. The customer's identity has not been disclosed.

CEO Peggy Johnson, a former executive at Microsoft and Qualcomm, said in the press release that the orders reflect "real demand" after three years of deploying the earlier Digit 4 at customer sites including Amazon, Toyota and logistics company GXO.

Agility has said it costs about $400,000 to buy a Digit and operate it for five years. The company also offers a lease option at about $8,500 per month, according to The Robot Report.

Early access to Digit 5 is expected in the first half of 2027, with broader availability by year's end. Agility projects deploying about 800 units in 2027 and scaling to 25,000 by 2035.