Some 300,000 human beings attended China’s largest artificial intelligence event of the year in Shanghai last weekend. But it was the humanoid robots who caught many visitors’ attention.
Eighteen Chinese-made robot models greeted attendees at the so-called World Artificial Intelligence Conference while inside the hall, many lined up to glimpse Tesla’s latest Optimus humanoid robot model, which was making its debut at the event.
Among the biped robots was a model named Qinglong, created by a Shanghai research lab using technology that is now open source, which demonstrated its ability to sort bread and fruits into different baskets.
The enthusiasm for humanoid robots now goes all the way to the top in China. Last November, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology published an industry blueprint including an aim to mass produce humanoid robots by 2025 and turn them into “a new engine of economic growth” by 2027.
China has indeed come a long way in a very short time in robotics, with its firms and researchers now challenging U.S. industry leaders such as Boston Dynamics and Tesla. Yet despite Beijing’s ambitions, challenges remain before humanoid robots can be deployed commercially, from refining the technology to figuring out how they can actually be used — all while Chinese developers’ access to key materials such as U.S.-made chips is getting harder amid ongoing geopolitical tensions.
“We are now witnessing an explosive growth, both in scale and scope, of this industry,” says Ni Tao, a Shanghai-based tech blogger. “But for now there is so much hype and buzz around this segment and we are already seeing early signs of a bubble.”
It’s interesting, because [humanoid robots] is a market segment that has not really had any commercial success yet. But at the same time, there has been huge investment into these types of products.
Ash Sharma, a research director at the UK-based market intelligence firm Interact Analysis
While the hardware to create humanoid robots has been around for over a decade, recent breakthroughs in AI have enabled them to gain new capabilities, making them smarter, more flexible and more easily trained.
China, which is looking to automation as one answer to the problem of its shrinking workforce, has already installed more industrial robots than any other market. But companies across several industries are now looking for more sophisticated models such as humanoid robots able to complete more complex tasks.
Warehouse logistics and automotive manufacturing are among the first sectors where Chinese firms have been exploring the use of humanoid robots. Take Shenzhen-based UBTech Robotics, which went public in Hong Kong last December raising around $130 million. It began pilot tests at electric vehicle maker NIO’s motor assembly line earlier this year, where its robot, known as Walker S, checked door locks and installed car emblems.
In recent weeks, the company has announced similar collaborations with state-owned Dongfeng Motor and the joint venture FAW-Volkswagen with the aim of eventually developing a fully unmanned car factory.
China also sees a role for humanoid robots in healthcare and elderly care, where they could help alleviate potential future labor shortages as the population ages. Some companies, such as the Dalian-based Ex-Robots, have focused on giving their robots a hyper-realistic look with silicone faces, in the hope that, besides cleaning floors or carrying patients from their beds, they could in future also provide companionship for elderly people.
As humanoid robots become the new tech sector darling, money is also pouring in. Chinese humanoid designers and manufacturers raised $5.4 billion yuan ($742 million) in fresh funds last year, according to the Chinese research firm AskCI, more than four times the level the year before.
“It’s interesting, because it is a market segment that has not really had any commercial success yet,” notes Ash Sharma, a research director at the UK-based market intelligence firm Interact Analysis. “But at the same time, there has been huge investment into these types of products.”
Commercial success may be getting closer, however. Unitree Robotics, a leading startup from Hangzhou that landed $139 million in its latest funding round last February, launched its humanoid model, the G1, in May. With a base price of $16,000, it costs less than a tenth of other offerings in the market.
“It was a massive deal for this industry, and it has left [companies] like Boston Dynamics and Tesla scrambling to make their prices compete,” says George Chowdhury, an analyst at the technology intelligence firm ABI Research. Unitree did not respond to a request for comment.
Yet while state support and a relatively friendly regulatory environment have helped Chinese companies to date, gaps remain in some of the most critical aspects of the technology, such as robot hardware.
“Although Chinese firms or startups can sometimes manufacture these parts themselves or get them from domestic suppliers, at a lower cost, the grade of precision, durability and other specs are occasionally inferior to imports,” says Ni, the tech blogger.
More crucially, many Chinese developers depend on foreign chips and technology to power its robots, leaving the industry vulnerable to U.S. export controls and sanctions — especially given the importance of chips made by American company Nvidia.
“The familiarity that Nvidia has built over the years with the [humanoid] developer community and the support that they have given has been unparalleled in the industry,” says Lian Sye Su, chief analyst at tech research firm Omdia.
Innovation won’t stop, but when [humanoid robots] will become commercially and economically of value, it’s unclear on any kind of scale.
George Chowdhury, an analyst at the technology intelligence firm ABI Research
Chinese humanoid machines were among the nine robots that shared the stage with Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang, when he gave his keynote speech at the company’s annual AI conference in March. They included Unitree’s H1, Chinese carmaker Xpeng’s PX5 and GR-1, developed by Fourier Intelligence, a Shanghai company that specializes in robotic devices for rehabilitation and expanded into humanoid robots last year.
“Reliance on Nvidia is a big problem and a risk I see as potentially fatal,” Ni says.
In many ways, it is still early days for the humanoid robot industry, and both Chinese and American developers are still figuring out where the market for them resides.
UBTech Robotics, for instance, has sold only 10 units from its Walker series since 2021, according to its IPO prospectus, and currently relies on education and logistics robots to drive revenue. The company declined to comment.
“Innovation won’t stop, but when they will become commercially and economically of value, it’s unclear on any kind of scale,” Chowdhury adds.
Many industry practitioners remain optimistic about the potential for humanoid robots, even so. David Hanson, founder of Hanson Robotics which developed the social humanoid robot Sofia in 2016, says the machines are now generating their own data and learning from their experiences.
“Don’t lose sight of that profound shift in development trends, just because some of the robots can’t do what you see in videos and some are just marketing,” Hanson says.
“There is a real wave of transformative development in AI and robotics happening today. And it’s going to keep changing the world.”
Rachel Cheung is a staff writer for The Wire China based in Hong Kong. She previously worked at VICE World News and South China Morning Post, where she won a SOPA Award for Excellence in Arts and Culture Reporting. Her work has appeared in The Washington Post, Los Angeles Times, Columbia Journalism Review and The Atlantic, among other outlets.
