China’s own Tesla Optimus? Beijing’s ambitions in humanoid robots in full display at expo

Chinese robot manufacturers are hoping to repeat the country’s global success in smartphones and electric vehicles

Reading Time:2 minutes

Hangzhou-based Deep Robotics debuts its bipedal humanoid robot Dr.01 at the World Robotics Conference, taking place from August 21 to 25 in Beijing. Photo: Handout

Published: 6:00pm, 23 Aug 2024Updated: 8:50pm, 23 Aug 2024

Chinese technology companies unveiled more than two dozen humanoid robots at an industry expo in Beijing this week, where Tesla’s Optimus was the only foreign competitor present, a sign of the mainland’s drive to dominate the field.

The five-day 2024 World Robot Conference, which concludes on Sunday, is the latest event in China to showcase the nation’s progress and ambitions in robotics. The show has attracted 400 industry experts and academics from the sector and more than 160 domestic and overseas robotics firms that exhibited more than 60 new products, including 27 Chinese-designed humanoid robots, according to the organisers.

While China is not considered a global leader in humanoid robots, hopes are high among mainland manufacturers that they can repeat the country’s international success found in the smartphone and electric vehicle sectors.

Agibot – founded by Li Zhihui, a Huawei Technologies alumnus who aims to create humanoid robots rivalling Tesla’s Optimus –unveiled several examples powered by large language models (LLMs), the technology underpinning generative artificial intelligence (GenAI). Equipped with sensors, the robots are able to “watch” and “listen” by processing text, audio and video.

“LLMs have enabled a lot of new concepts and possibilities for robots,” said Hu Jingping, an Agibot employee.

Agibot’s products are geared towards industrial use, such as automated stacking, loading and unloading of materials in factories, as well as greeting customers in shops and offering help before the arrival of a human assistant, according to Hu.

Another exhibitor Astribot – based in the souther tech hub of Shenzhen and backed by venture capital firm MPC, formerly Matrix Partners China – launched a robot assistant called S1 that performed tasks such as writing calligraphy and playing the Chinese dulcimer, a traditional stringed musical instrument.