Ubtech

UBTECH Robotics outlines plans for a tenfold increase in humanoid robot production by 2026, driven by claimed orders from major EV manufacturers and industrial giants. The company emphasizes its focus on making humanoids practical tools for China's evolving manufacturing landscape.

Huawei and UBTech Robotics have formed a strategic partnership to accelerate the development and adoption of humanoid robots for both industrial and domestic applications. Leveraging Huawei's AI processors, cloud, and large models, the collaboration aims to create smart factories and household service robots, underpinned by a new joint innovation center focused on embodied intelligence.

Unitree Robotics CEO Wang Xingxing stated at a Shanghai forum that while hardware cost and durability are important, the primary bottleneck for humanoid robots is developing unified, end-to-end AI systems. He highlighted strong market demand, Unitree's leading sales figures, and made an urgent call for talent across all departments.

UBTech's Walker S1 humanoid robots have begun operational deployment at Zeekr's 5G smart factory, performing tasks like material handling and quality inspection. Utilizing a 'BrainNet' AI framework for multi-robot coordination, the robots completed collaborative training. Trials are also underway at BYD, Foxconn, and Audi-FAW facilities, with over 500 units reportedly in the order pipeline, though mass production is still estimated to be 1-2 years away.

Chinese firms UBTech and Midea are advancing humanoid robot deployment in factories. UBTech has sold a batch of its bipedal Walker robots, likely to automaker Dongfeng, for manufacturing use. Appliance giant Midea is deploying its own wheeled humanoids in its smart factories starting in May for tasks like quality inspection, aiming for broader roles and potential commercialization in 3-5 years.