Humanoid robots dominated the spotlight at this week's World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) in Shanghai. According to Chinese outlets TMTPost and Chinastarmarket.cn, the 2025 event featured over 80 robotics firms — among them Ubtech Robotics, Faraday Technology, DEEP Robotics, Leju Robot, Engine AI, X Square Robot, and Proto-Sentient Intelligence (Psi-Robot) — showcasing more than 60 humanoid models, up sharply from just 18 in 2024.
From static displays to practical applications
Humanoid robots were a crowd favorite at WAIC 2024, but their functionality has improved markedly in just a year. While last year's models were largely limited to static displays and novelty dances, this year's robots are capable of handling real tasks like folding laundry, taking out the trash, and serving food. Showy demonstrations remain part of the mix, with robots also boxing, playing mahjong, and giving massages.
Psi-Robot showcases its humanoid robot R1 playing mahjong. Credit: AFP
Robots are now venturing outdoors to perform more complex tasks. Qinglong 3.0, an open-source humanoid robot from the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics, is equipped with a "spatiotemporal computing backpack" that allows for local AI inference on the edge.
At the Shanghai campus of positioning technology firm Qianxun Spatial Intelligence, Qinglong 3.0 is currently tasked with receiving drone deliveries, guiding visitors to their destinations, and conducting autonomous patrols to report irregularities.
Real-world deployment accelerates
In China, humanoid robots are already serving customers in retail stores and delivering meals in restaurants. Quadruped robots are also gaining traction in hazardous environments, including chemical plant inspections and rugged terrain logistics.
KEENON Robotics unveils its humanoid robot XMAN-F1 for the first time. Credit: AFP
Why humanoid design? Investors say it's a practical choice — most environments are built for humans, so humanoid robots can be deployed without reconfiguring physical spaces, allowing for broader adoption across industries.
Though robotics has been in development for years, it has only recently entered the mainstream. Investors attribute this visibility to breakthroughs in AI over the past two years. As general-purpose AI improves, large tech firms are investing heavily, accelerating innovation across the robotics value chain and driving down costs.
China's competitive position in global robotics
Bloomberg, citing Citigroup Inc., projects the humanoid robot market could reach US$7 trillion by 2050. For China, facing a rapidly aging population and shrinking industrial labor force, robot deployment across factories, healthcare, and homes has become a pressing priority.
Analysts in China admit that domestic firms still trail global leaders in areas like AI algorithms and core components. However, China's edge lies in its vertically integrated supply chains and expansive real-world deployment scenarios, enabling rapid iteration and competitive cost structures.
Eric Wang, Director of the Americas at DEEP Robotics, said the US has yet to see any cost-effective humanoid robot challengers, and likely won't for at least another two to three years.
Industry outlook and future prospects
One of WAIC's standout appearances came from Tencent chief scientist Zhang Zhengyou, an ACM and IEEE fellow rarely seen at public events. Zhang acknowledged that embodied intelligence is currently overhyped, but stressed that sustained exploration is necessary for meaningful breakthroughs.
He likened today's humanoid robots to the transitional phase between feature phones and smartphones, arguing that, much like the Pocket PC and BlackBerry paved the way for iPhones and Androids, early-stage robots are setting the foundation for the next generation of embodied AI.
Article edited by Jerry Chen
