Robots EVERYWHERE: Real Life Use Cases in China
Healthcare, Agritech, Delivery & Logistics, Manufacuturing and more
Hi All,
Today, I want to introduce a dear friend, Nico, who will be contributing to AI Proem regularly. Nico Finn provides tech insights based on fieldwork and data. She holds an MPhil from Oxford and is currently a Yenching Scholar at Peking University.
She has written extensively on China’s robotics, AI, and tech sectors widely, and this insightful report elaborates further on the companies to watch and the practical use-cases where physical AI is being used already. See her recently published story on China’s robotics industry here.
(And passing it to Nico, mostly…)
China, U.S., humanity vs. Robots
My recent trip to China showed me numerous robots deployed in real life. Seeing dish-delivering robots at every hotpot restaurant and USB cord charger delivery robots at hotels is not exactly jaw-dropping, but it certainly invites my fellow American travelers to rethink the scale of China’s market appetite for robotics and embodied AI at large.
Embodied intelligence technologies are claiming a growing share within this expanding market. Several structural advantages underlie China’s momentum in this field. According to the 2023 China Robotics Industry Development Report, China’s service robot market exceeded RMB 50 billion (~USD 7 billion) with annual growth surpassing 30%. As discussions about the AI competition, while much attention has been paid to foundation models, large language models (LLMs), and general-purpose AI capabilities, the arena of embodied intelligence presents a more nuanced and salient landscape. China has rapidly developed distinctive advantages in this domain that challenge prevailing assumptions of China’s cheap/ not as advanced technology, especially compared to the U.S.
On that note, Jia Yueting, the former CEO of LeEco, shocked everyone by appearing at BEYOND Expo at the opening ceremony. He seems to be another former executive who is unretiring due to AI (like Sergey Brin).
After many years of living abroad, he brings a more nuanced perspective on China vs. the U.S. Jia Yueting said, "Many people believe that AI in the US and China is in opposition and mutually exclusive. But I have always believed that AI is this era's most powerful transformative medium—it inherently possesses the attributes of integration, reconstruction, and coexistence. AI in the U.S. and China is not an either-or situation; it is entirely possible to achieve complementary win-win outcomes, promoting a broader and more orderly release of AI's value on a global scale."
"Looking at the world from the perspective of the U.S., the four new routes for Chinese enterprises to go global in the future are the bridge model, the overseas expansion of industries and supply chains, the overseas expansion of AI ecosystems, and the overseas expansion of Web3 ecosystems. The boundary-breaking transformations of these four elements will also become a significant trend in reshaping the global business landscape," said Jia Yueting.
This primarily aligns with what many startup founders are saying in China and the businesses and services we are seeing being exported. This generation of entrepreneurs truly believes that going global cannot and will not be stopped by geopolitics, especially given the sophistication of founders nowadays.
What is embodied intelligence? It goes beyond humanoid
Embodied intelligence refers to the confluence of AI with robotic systems, where intelligence is instantiated not just in data processing but in physical form. This includes, of course, humanoid robots, but also service robots, drones, autonomous mobile platforms, and intelligent manufacturing systems. On the flip side, these robots must be “smart” and have self-upgrading capacity to be considered embodied intelligence. Many firms and labs now focus on combining the likes of LLMs and robots to make them learn intelligently. Unlike LLMs, which primarily inhabit digital spaces, embodied intelligence allows applications to extend into labor markets, eldercare, education, logistics, and military scenarios. This extension into the real world means the stakes are not just about data but about material interactions, infrastructure, and human well-being. [Grace has previously shared some insights that the UBtech COO shared recently on physical data and physical intelligence here]
China has many structural advantages. And China knows it
This is evident in this year’s Spring Festival Gala, where China usually broadcasts its most note-worthy technological achievement to the world. Previously, aerospace missions and high-speed railroads had all been featured, nearly like a national rite of passage. This year’s Unitree H1 humanoid robot was the protagonist. It is the strongest visual evidence echoing what many believed in China, that 2025 is ‘the year 0 of the epoch of Chinese robotics’.
With a population of 1.2 billion+ and the most complete manufacturing ecosystem globally, China offers a unique environment for rapid prototyping and scale. China has developed a highly synergistic ecosystem, or “integrated industry policy”, from core components such as Inovance’s servo motors to integrators like Siasun Robotics. For instance, DJI’s technologies have contributed to motion control and sensor fusion capabilities crucial to embodied intelligence, not just its final products in the form of drones. [Grace has written bout the rise of industrial robotics here]
Taking a step back from products, patent records also show that China has been poised to provide more breakthroughs for embodied AI. The World Intellectual Property Organization reports that China has led global generative AI patent applications for four consecutive years, and China now boasts more than 190,000 effective robot-related patents, or ⅔ of the global total.
So, what are some scenarios using robots?
This goes beyond the showy robots like the dancing humanoid and food-delivery drones. The following scenarios are a lot more low-key, but are exactly going to be the backbone of the industry’s success.
Advanced manufacturing
The Chinese manufacturing sector is embracing collaborative robots, or “cobots,” to upscale its economy. These robots work alongside human workers, handling tasks such as welding, assembly, and quality inspection. This was largely showcased in the UBtech x Zeekr March demo as well. Where robots worked together with each other and with humans on the production line.
Another company worth mentioning is one of the largest manufacturers, Siasun, which launched DUCO GCR cobots designed for welding and assembly. Estun, another company, specializes in spot welding and arc welding, targeting particularly the automotive industry.
Hikrobot is a subsidiary of Hikvision, known to have the world’s most advanced facial recognition products, and develops mobile robots and machine vision products for intelligent intralogistics solutions in industrial settings. The company will be known beyond its world-leading security cam, but also for advanced manufacturing and cobots, ranging from a handheld code reader, vision box, lens, light source, and more.
Agritech
Agritech actually has a significant market application potential in China and beyond. DJI, DJDynamics, XAG have been providing numerous leading models of drones and integrated smart systems for precision crop spraying, field monitoring, and fruit picking. The DJI Agriculture 2022 White Paper report highlighted that already 210,000 drones were in operation globally as of 2022, while DJI Agriculture has already expanded to over 100 countries to offer tailored drone solutions to local crop and terrain conditions.
In the next few years when you take a tequila shot, it’s likely the hard labor and fruition of one of these DJI drones. (Not to mention that the lychee for your cocktail could be well harvested by robots in southern China as early as 2022.)
Healthcare
Healthcare is another big category of AI with a readily available market demand. Robots are being deployed for surgical assistance, hospital logistics, and rehabilitation. MicroPort MedBot’s laparoscopic surgical robot has received market approval in China, facilitating minimally invasive surgeries across departments. Fourier offers solutions to aid physical therapy and recovery, which is an obvious demand for robotic assistance. TMiRob disinfection robots utilize UVC light and hydrogen peroxide mist to sterilize hospital environments, enhancing infection control.
Delivery and logistics
Like the hotpot ingredient-delivery robots that surprised our American travelers in China, many service and hospitality robots are excelling at logistics and customer interactions. Pudu is a smart delivery robot designed for restaurants, and Yunji offers “room service” delivery to hotel guests - also something very common in China nowadays, even at a random four-star hotel that I recently visited. Others now sell humanoid robots for reception and concierge roles, integrating AI to interact with customers in service settings.
Home appliances
Smart home appliances are not unfamiliar terrain for many of us. I remember getting a Roomba vacuum cleaner at Costco ten years ago. But a decent first-hand Roomba costs between USD 450 and USD 1000, while a reputable Chinese brand would cost only half of this. And this is what China will continue to thrive on. Roborock, another Chinese company that sources its manufacturing with Xiaomi, is now a top product on U.S. Amazon. Roborock boasts to have the best mapping features on the market. Its latest model even has an arm to pick up small obstacles like a sock…Currently, the sock-picking vacuum costs over a grand, but when the day comes when it is competitively priced, it could be the end of Roomba.
Parting words, for now
In terms of defining what constitutes ‘embodied AI’ tech, scholars and researchers are wary of conceptual stretching. We think that just like autonomous driving, the “real embodied intelligence” is not here yet. But here, like Grace Shao at AI Proem, I also echo Dr. Jeffrey Ding’s thesis that to win in the tech realm, sometimes it is not about having the most cutting-edge tech but the scale of adaptation and leveraging the opportunity to upscale the whole economy.
From what I gathered on the ground, this is what I see: Chinese companies and policymakers are extremely good at. Electric vehicles are one such example. Although Tesla was the flagship of EVs worldwide, Chinese EVS - both big and small brands- have come to dominate actual sales globally, especially for markets outside of the U.S. Chinese professionals working in the robotics field recognize that the U.S. will likely continue to have an edge on cutting-edge tech. Still, China is competitively positioned to become one of the largest producers of advanced robots.
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