China is immersed in a technological revolution. Despite the severe restrictions in Europe and the United States regarding the sale of cutting-edge technology, with companies such as ASML and Nvidia unable to sell their cutting-edge equipment to Chinese companies, the Asian giant is managing to continue developing in the artificial intelligence segment.
Huawei is a reference here, but also the different companies that have an objective aligned with the country’s goal: to create commercial humanoid robots in the short term. And one of those companies has already declared that it has nearly 1,000 humanoid robots ready to launch onto the streets.
Robotic revolution. The Ministry of Industry and Technological Information pointed out a few months ago that humanoid robots would be a product “as disruptive as smartphones.” They consider that they will be a product as important as mobile phones, electric cars (in which China is leading) and computers.
The goal is to reach an advanced level of mass production of this type of robots by 2025, a company in which several companies are pitching in. Looking ahead to 2027, the goal is even more ambitious: for these robots to be a “new and important engine of economic growth.”
Agibot. One of the companies involved is Fourier Intelligence, launching a nursing robot in 2023. Another is Zhiyuan Robotics, also known as Agibot. The company was founded by Peng Zhihui, who joined Huawei in 2020 as a genius in artificial intelligence and robotics, and who, after leaving the Chinese giant in December 2022, founded Agibot.
In this short period, the company has presented several models of humanoid robots designed for both industrial and domestic tasks. And it is not alone in the robotics fight: giants like BYD or Hillhouse Investment are among its investors.
A2. Of the staff of five robots, three of them are humanoid, but both A2 and A2 Max should be highlighted. They are the most similar to us, they have limbs with several points of articulation and are loaded with sensors to read their surroundings.
The A2 measures 175 centimeters, weighs 55 kilos and its processor with artificial intelligence can collect external data that allows it to see and hear. It also understands information in text and audio, so it is multimodal and very precise: it was designed at a level that would allow it to insert a thread through the eye of a needle.
Almost 1,000 robots. At SCMP we can see that, in August of this year, the company expected to start shipping the first robots from October, with a goal of 300 units shipped by the end of the year. That forecast has been far exceeded and, now, it seems that the company has managed to produce almost 1,000 robots. Specifically, 962 units until December 15, as noted in the South China Morning Post.
All against Optimus. China is becoming home to many companies that are charging against the likes of Boston Dynamics and Tesla. Boston Dynamics seems to be going another way, but Elon Musk has already put the Optimus to work during the We Robots event in which he presented the ‘robotaxis’ and is one of those who is pushing the hardest to launch general-purpose humanoid robots on the market. . Although, well, the event raised questions about the supposed autonomy of the Optimus.
In China there are several companies with the same objective, and new players do not stop arriving. A few weeks ago, a former OpenAI engineer founded a robotics startup in China and Singapore. Called Light Robotics, it will focus on user-oriented companion robots.
Commercial. As we say, the idea of these robots is that they are “general purpose”, focused on assisting users with domestic tasks, but also commercial tasks by loading packages in a warehouse, for example. The Price of innovation, of course, is that models like the Expedition A1 cost about $26,000. Telsa’s Optimus will cost about 20,000.
Of course, China is not the only one that wants to tighten the screws on Optimus and many other companies have embarked on that race. For example, Apptronik, a North American company that has been involved in projects such as the exoskeletons of the United States Special Operations Command.
In short, if you have not seen ‘I, Robot’, you may be interested in taking a look at the film starring Will Smith, since there are companies that have insisted that we live that reality sooner rather than later.
Image | Agibot
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