Excited children gathered as Wuji, a small humanoid tour guide, welcomed them to a robot school in eastern China. With expressive gestures, the robot described the goal of training future mechanical workers.
In China, enthusiasm around advanced robotics is surging as the sector becomes the next major chapter in the global AI race, attracting investor interest and concerns from countries like the U.S.
The company’s shares soared over 600% on debut, yet this hype remains speculative since commercial use of highly advanced humanoid robots remains limited.
During a visit to Hangzhou Robot School, AFP encountered Wuji — a custom Unitree robot — which asked visitors for patience while it showed around the reception area.
“I’m still in training, so I feel a bit nervous,” the robot said in a sincere female voice. It explained how the school offers specialized courses and certifications for various robot roles.
Unitree’s humanoids are some of the most recognizable worldwide, captivating audiences with their smooth martial arts routines and robot combat experiments.
However, the company notes in its prospectus that large-scale commercial deployment “still faces uncertainty, with a risk that progress may fall short of expectations.”
Experts say that achieving machines that can independently handle unpredictable real-world situations is still a long way off for any company.
“Training a robot’s ‘brain’ is very challenging,” said Zhu Tianle, a robotics engineer at the school. “While we’ve developed some technical skills, enabling robots to understand the world remains a global challenge.”
“It involves much more than just integrating AI into a robot,” added Lian Jye Su from Omdia, a tech research group, criticizing the term “physical AI” for oversimplifying hardware complexity.
“Many might think, ‘Grandparents can already chat with ChatGPT, so robots should soon care for them.’ But the reality is we’re still far from actualizing that future.”
Real-World Application
Beijing is pushing to shorten this timeline, emphasizing robotics sector growth in its recent five-year plans.
The manufacturing supply chain is mature, with many parallels to the electric vehicle industry.
“The next phase in the industry isn’t just about demonstrating robots can walk, but about proving they can perform practical, cost-effective tasks,” said Kangyuxiao Li, an equity analyst at Morningstar, to AFP.
This is the core mission of Hangzhou Robot School, a project managed by Zhejiang University with support from local authorities.
Zhao Han, deputy director of ZJU’s institute behind the school, added, “Our goal is to bridge the skills gap so companies can apply robots in real-world settings.”
When visiting earlier this month, AFP noticed the relatively sparse presence of students, but the sizable training space underscored the commitment to advancing robotics.
Companies can enroll robots for evaluation and training, preparing them for specific roles in the workplace. The school issues certifications confirming a machine’s competency, similar to a human graduation diploma, Zhao explained.
In China, robots are increasingly common in daily life — directing traffic, cleaning homes, or working on assembly lines.
Beyond hardware challenges, deploying robots widely requires collecting vast amounts of data — comparable to the online content training large language models.
At a training center visited by AFP, human operators repeatedly performed simple tasks, like folding clothes or moving objects, as robots mimicked their actions, illustrating the data-intensive nature of training robots to perform reliably.
Tech Competition
China’s strategic investments have caught U.S. attention. In July, the U.S. restricted imports of foreign humanoid and quadruped robots over national security concerns, marking a new front in the tech rivalry.
Ethan Qi of Counterpoint Research notes China’s edge comes from its manufacturing scale, streamlined supply chains, and competitive costs. Conversely, the U.S. leads in software development and cutting-edge research.
AFP reached out to leading Chinese robotics exporters like Unitree, UBTECH, and Aigibot for comments on the U.S. import restrictions, but there was no response. Industry experts believe these measures won’t significantly impact the overall sector.
“Most companies are heavily invested in the next technological breakthrough and whether it will be commercially viable, rather than focusing on international markets,” said Rui Ma, founder of Tech Buzz China.
U.S. sales account for only a small fraction of most Chinese robotics firms’ revenues, as over 90% of the global humanoid robot market is in China, according to Counterpoint.
Omdia’s Su warned that the real threat to these companies is more existential — if they fail to develop general-purpose, human-like robots as hoped, it could lead to substantial valuation drops. “Not delivering on those promises could be a huge setback.”