The robots will respond to the shortage of labor in factories, retirement homes and hospitals, but are they sure and reliable?
The Tiangong Ultra robot wins the title of champion of the Humanoid robots of Beijing, April 19, 2025.
The era of incarnated intelligence robots promises to be. Thanks to their artificial intelligence, they are able to perceive, learn and dynamically interact with their environment. Their emergence is part of a context where equipment is constantly more efficient and ever more varied applications.
“When drones appeared for the first time, people did not know how to use them,” said Zhang Yueming, chief scientist of the company Beijing Chietom Precision Transmission Technology, a manufacturer based in high precision Beijing used in industrial robot joints. “Then they gradually found application scenarios. It will be the same for incarnated intelligence robots. »»
Man’s new best friend
Companies and public services strive to find ways to use new generation robots, and factories are one of the main commercial application fields. The use of intelligence robots embodied in factories increases gradually, in particular in extreme high -risk scenarios, replacing humans in specialized operations. In difficult and dangerous environments such as nuclear waste management, oil and gas pipeline inspections, fire fighting and mine inspections, companies hope to improve human work efficiency and reduce human losses thanks to these robots, which can be remote -controlled and have intelligent decision -making capacities.
Currently, a number of specialized robots are deployed in practical scenarios, such as electrical distribution rooms – where high -voltage processors and equipment are installed -, chemical blast exercises and rail stations. “For embodied intelligence robots or humanoid robots, national and international companies are still only in the first stages of their development,” noted Gao Chao, vice-president of the CCID Consulting research center, an opinion shared by Mr. Zhang.
Most orders of intelligence robots embodied in China come from the education sector today. A Haitong Securities report published in November 2024 indicates that the main areas of application of quadruped robots are education and entertainment, followed by scientific research.
In addition, events for events, advertising and culture rent these robots to animate salons, taking advantage of their interactive capacities, their unique appearance and their technical characteristics.
They are also used in new marketing strategies.
Ubtech Robotics’ Walker humanoid robot has powerful visual capacities to detect and recognize faces, objects and places in complex environments. With an excellent balance, it adapts to different terrains, and can be used on factory mounting chains. Already deployed in several technological exhibition halls, it has made more than 3,000 regular appearances. The third generation, Walker X, provided guided reception services to the China pavilion during the 2020 Dubai Expo for six months.
A robot dog presented in an AI exhibition in Fuzhou (Fujian), March 8, 2025
Robots as caregivers
The factories, logistics and the education sector, however, have only limited opportunities to use these smart robots. They are mainly intended for certain specific and relatively simple tasks. A wider market is that of home services, in particular rehabilitation and care for the elderly.
According to data from the National Health Commission, the population aged 60 and over in China is expected to exceed 400 million around 2035.
Faced with a shortage of nursing assistants and an increasing aging population, embodied intelligence robots can partly meet the demand of services for the elderly.
Professionals in the sector estimate that it will take at least 10 years for incarnated intelligence robots to truly enter the homes. According to Mr. Gao, the requirements in this area are very high, the domestic environment is more complex and changing, and the tasks are delicate and varied.
The American-Norwegian company 1x technologies, a leader in the field of humanoid robots, develops robots for general use intended to evolve at the home of individuals and learn of interactions they have with humans. These robots can perform basic household chores such as folding clothes, storing objects, preparing coffee, laundry and vacuuming, although their movements are relatively slow. In China, Fourier, a company based in Shanghai, designs robots for medical rehabilitation, scientific research and other current uses. It already provides services to hospitals worldwide and should develop robots for household chores, care for the elderly and education in the future.
According to Mr. Gao, the level of safety and ease of use of domestic robots must be very high, because these robots will accompany the day and night of non -professional users. There will therefore be major concerns about their level of security. Accepting and using them is a process that should be done gradually.
The price factor
“Users are also very sensitive to the price. To enter thousands of homes, the price of products must be reduced thanks to economies of scale, ”said Gao.
The prevented price of the H1 humanoid robot from Unite Robotics is currently 650,000 yuan. The features and the price have not yet reached the level required for generalized adoption at home.
Gao says government measures play an important role. The government must indeed encourage more high -end application scenarios. It is necessary to increase financial and fiscal support, in particular for R&D, and to coordinate the construction of public platforms such as calculation centers for intelligent robots and test and inspection centers.
In October 2024, the Beijing humanoid innovation center was inaugurated by the Ministry of Industry and Information Technologies (MITI) and the municipal government of Beijing in order to develop key technologies common to industry.
Intelligence robots also arouse a new influx of venture capital investments worldwide, attracting the interest of technological giants from various countries. According to the Humanoid 100 report: mapping the Humanoid Robot Value Chain, a list of the 100 best world companies in the humanoid robots published by Morgan Stanley in February, 52 companies are currently involved in the development of humanoids. NVIDIA, OPENAI, Microsoft, Google and other American technological giants invest in embodied intelligence. In China, humanoid robots companies raised funds 74 times in 2024, with 10 transactions finalized in January 2025.
The humanoid robot Tiangong shows how it rids a table at the Beijing humanoid robots innovation center on March 12, 2025.
China in global competition
In terms of patent requests, China is first place in the world. Over the past five years, the number of patent applications relating to humanoid robots was 5,688. In the United States, it was only 1,483.
According to Mr. Gao, the performance and mobility capacities of humanoid robots are comparable both at national and international level. The sucking quadruped robot can perform complex tasks like rolling and jumping, and its humanoid robot can even dance.
The Haitong Securities research report published last November showed that the United States had made more progress in the marketing of embodied intelligence robots. Before their entry into car factories, a large number had already been used in the logistics and transport sector, transforming the traditional model of the transport sector and making massive commercial deliveries.
After acquiring the Kiva Systems robotics company in 2012, Amazon began to explore the application of robots and smart technologies in its warehouses and for logistics. The American giant now employs more than 750,000 robots, making it one of the largest robot users in the world.
In 2023, Digit, a humanoid robot developed by Agility Robotics, a company from the State University of Oregon in the United States, collaborated with Gxo Logistics to perform tasks such as manipulating packages, mounting stairs and crossing complex land with packages, contributing to reduce the transfer time between the warehouse and the truck. In August 2024, Digit had processed 10,000 orders.
The most urgent task
“Most new technologies are emerging in the United States. How to catch up or even exceed them is currently the most urgent task, “said Zhang Yueming. And Mr. Gao added: “Foreign humanoid robots are relatively advanced in terms of operational capacities, but we accelerate to catch up. »»
In 2023, the MITI published a directive to promote the innovative development of humanoid robots. A group of embodied intelligence startups quickly emerged in China. Most of these companies are founded by people with a solid technical background and trying to develop smarter and versatile robots.
According to Nicholas Wright, a neuro-scientist affiliated with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American reflection group, China and the United States each have their own advantages in the development of humanoid robots. The biggest advantage of China lies in large-scale manufacturing, while that of the United States is cutting-edge technology owned by Silicon Valley giants like Nvidia, startups and universities.
The situation could evolve in the long term. Morgan Stanley plans that in 2050, the humanoid robots market in China will reach 6,000 billion yuan, while the one in the United States will only amount to $ 1,000 billion.
*Li Shimeng is a journalist at
