HUMANOID robots might “soon” be brought to the homes of everyday people, according to a new robotics centre in Beijing.
The robots, which use AI and resemble human bodies in shape, are expected to propel China forward in its tech war with the US.
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Months-old robotics centre Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre has so far provided minimal details about its latest project to release a general-purpose humanoid robot prototype.
But it assured the robot will be brought into existence “soon”, South China Morning Post reports.
The machines are expected to supplement China’s shrinking labour force, as the massive economy pushes to upgrade its growth drivers with new tech-led “productive forces”.
An unnamed source with the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre told the Beijing Youth Daily: “It is the dream of every humanoid robot company to bring humanoid robots into thousands of households.”
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It comes amid China’s fierce ongoing tech war with the United States, and as China faces serious demographic challenges – including a rapidly ageing population – as well as a property market crisis.
The centre was reportedly established late last year and involves both private and state-owned robot manufacturers.
A source described as a “person in charge” said leading experts and researchers from the robotics industry at the centre were looking to create “a common technological platform, a public service platform and regulatory standards for the humanoid robot industry”.
They added: “In the future, humanoid robots may enter automobile manufacturing, 3C (computer, communication, and consumer electronics) manufacturing and other fields, thereby further improving the industrial manufacturing level.”
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There are fears humanoid robots could be yet another type of “disruptive innovation” – like computers, smartphones, and new-energy vehicles.
But China is hoping to turn the humanoid robot sector into “an important new engine of economic growth” by 2027, according to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT).
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The centre’s humanoid robots are to be a technological convergence of artificial intelligence and new materials, and are hoped by China to make the country more self-reliant – and competitive against the US.
American firms such as Tesla and OpenAI-backed Figure are already working on humanoid robots.
Tesla’s $20,000 (£16,000) Optimus robot, the prototype for which was unveiled in September 2022, was expected to be mass-produced in three to five years.
China is currently the second-largest holder of humanoid robot patents with 1,699, behind Japan, according to a November report by the Research Institute of People’s Daily Online.
The MIIT last year announced its plans to mass-produce humanoid robots – producing about 500 robots per 10,000 workers – by 2025.
It believes the robots will be helpful for industries like healthcare home services, agriculture, and logistics.
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New plans suggest China could soon replace human soldiers with robots in future war scenarios.
Advanced robot soldiers and high-tech drones are expected to be sent to complex overseas missions within the next 10 years.
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