The hype around humanoid robots isn’t particularly new. Thank Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his Optimus robot, as well as the myriad videos of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot, for that.
Behind that hype, though, there is real progress. The physical capabilities of robots continue to improve, and researchers now believe that the AI techniques behind large language models can make complex robots capable of learning nearly any task.
Those tailwinds have encouraged a new batch of companies to jump in on the promise of profits from humanoid robots. And many of the latest entrants are Chinese automakers.
Earlier this week, Xpeng’s robotics unit raised more than $900 million at a post-money valuation of more than $6.3 billion. The round, led by IDG Capital with participation from Gaorong Ventures, Tencent, and Alibaba, was described by the company as the largest single-round private financing ever recorded in China’s “embodied AI” industry (AI systems built directly into physical machines).
This month, AiMOGA, the robotics unit of China’s Chery Automobile, reportedly began preparing for an IPO, while BYD unveiled a humanoid robot called Xiao Di. Other Chinese automakers, including Changan, GAC, Li Auto, SAIC, and Seres, are also developing humanoid robots.
Among all of them, Xpeng is the Chinese automaker that most closely watches and follows Tesla’s initiatives, according to Michael Dunne, CEO of San Diego- and Singapore-based advisory firm Dunne Insights.
“It’s the most focused on autonomy, it’s the first to commit in a big way to humanoid robots,” Dunne told TechCrunch, adding that Xpeng founder He Xiaopeng is a tech billionaire known for his agility and quick adjustments. “He sees razor-thin profit in cars on the near horizon. Robots look much more promising.”
Xiaopeng and Xpeng co-president Brian Gu are bullish enough that they’ve put their own funds behind the robotics unit. According to the Wall Street Journal, the pair invested about $100 million into the recent fundraising round.
Xpeng’s bet is on Iron, a humanoid robot with a realistic human shape that is built for commercial deployment.
Chinese automakers like Xpeng do bring a manufacturing edge.
“They have all the hardware to get the job done,” Dunne said. “Question is if they can catch Tesla on the AI side of the equation.”
There are, of course, many other companies developing humanoid robots, including Agility Robotics, Apptronik, and Figure, all chasing the same goal: commercial deployment at scale.
Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics is getting closer to that goal. Hyundai plans to bring Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot to its Georgia factory this year and eventually deploy the robots for tasks like parts sequencing by 2028. The Korean automaker, which partnered with Google’s AI research lab DeepMind to speed up the development of Atlas, is opening a U.S. facility this year called a Robot Metaplant Application Center, which will teach robots how to map movements like lifts and turns.
Other automotive companies are also jumping, including supplier Mobileye, which acquired humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics earlier this year for $900 million. Even Rivian is dabbling in robots with its Mind Robotics spinout — although its robots are not expected to look quite like the humanoids in development elsewhere.
