A series of major advancements in humanoid robot technology in China and the US has reignited talk of imminent mass production.
According to reports from the South China Morning Post, the Xinliu podcast, the Robot Report, and the Wall Street Journal, the US company Figure AI has recently unveiled its BotQ humanoid robot factory, which is capable of producing 12,000 robots per year. The company plans to eventually use humanoid robots to manufacture other humanoid robots, in order to increase production capacity.
Meanwhile, the Chinese company Unitree Robotics has posted a video of its G1 robot successfully doing a standing side flip, marking an industry first. The company's earlier H1 robot has performed at China's annual Spring Festival Gala, and completed the first standing backflip by an electric humanoid robot in 2024.
Credit: Unitree
In addition, the Chinese firm Dobot Robotics has also recently launched preorders for its Dobot Atom humanoid robot at CNY199,000 (approx. US$27,500), with mass production scheduled to begin in mid-2025. Already noted in the industry for its robotic arms, Dobot has already deployed its Atom humanoid robot in tests at automobile factories, electronics plants, and cafés.
Finally, Tesla CEO Elon Musk announced at an employee meeting that the company will aim to produce 5,000 Optimus robots in 2025, which will ramp up to 50,000 units in 2026. These will initially be intended for use internally by Tesla employees, before a wider public launch.
With this recent flurry of activity, analysts at Shanghai Securities believe the aim is to boost market confidence in the technology and encourage more involvement in the industry. Moreover, as academics have noted, Beijing is keen to maintain its lead in the humanoid robot industry, and with China's population now in decline, the manufacturing sector has naturally become a testing ground for the technology.
Will China or the US emerge as the winner?
As things currently stand, China is the undisputed leader in the humanoid robot race, with the US lagging far behind, according to US research firm SemiAnalysis. As an example, since China holds key advantages in terms of cost and supply chain efficiency, the cost of producing a robot arm in the US is roughly 2.2 times higher than in China. In addition, battery packs in China cost roughly US$127 per kWh, with prices in North America and Europe higher by 24% and 33% respectively.
Furthermore, after years of investments in the battery, solar energy, and EV industries, China now holds a dominating position in key components and materials for robots, including rare earth magnets and batteries. Combined with China's robust domestic supply chain, transport costs and time delays can be further reduced, leading to lower overall costs.
The SemiAnalysis report highlights DJI and GoPro as examples: DJI can source parts from local plants in mere hours, allowing the company to rapidly address defects and optimize designs. In contrast, a declining manufacturing sector in the US has hindered many American companies' attempts at developing their own hardware, since many of the components need to be sourced from China.
Article edited by Jack Wu
