The Beijing robot conference presents tough competition for Tesla's Optimus in the humanoid robot category.

• Tesla showcased its Optimus humanoid alongside its vehicles in a clear box, while Chinese companies showcased robots playing musical instruments and grabbing drinks.
• A record 27 humanoids were unveiled at the World Robot Conference that commenced in Beijing on Wednesday.
• Lanchi Ventures partner Wei Cao anticipates that the next significant advancement in humanoid development will take place within the next year or two, specifically in the form of a commercially viable manufacturing use case that enables robots to navigate and prioritize a sequence of tasks.

Beijing - While Chinese companies last week showcased human-like robots playing the zither or grabbing sodas, Samsung unveiled its Optimus humanoid inside a clear box, motionless next to its cars.

Elon Musk has stated that Optimus, the technology he promotes, can perform tasks such as folding laundry, cooking, cleaning, and teaching children. He believes that this technology has the potential to increase the value of Tesla to $25 trillion. However, it is uncertain how well the humanoids can perform these tasks at the moment.

The World Robot Conference in Beijing saw 27 humanoids unveiled, breaking a record, as the country continues to invest heavily in the development of human-like robots.

Lanchi Ventures has over 15 billion to 20 billion yuan in assets under management, and the total investment into China's robotics industry in the last decade has surpassed 100 billion yuan ($14.01 billion), said Wei Cao, partner at Lanchi Ventures.

Cao anticipates that the next significant advancement in humanoid development will take place within the next year or two, specifically in the form of a commercially viable application in manufacturing where robots can navigate and prioritize a set of tasks.

Cao emphasized that while robots can already perform basic tasks such as grabbing a water bottle, they can achieve more success in performing tasks by utilizing advanced artificial intelligence models, such as those from OpenAI and others.

Agibot, a humanoid startup founded in February 2023 by a former Huawei employee, has been funded by Lanchi Ventures. Prior to the World Robot Conference, the company unveiled five new robots, some of which are currently available for preorder with a 5,000 yuan deposit.

Agibot plans to start some deliveries in mid-October and then launch a batch of 300 robots in November. The company's advertisement for its human-like robots demonstrated their ability to perform various tasks such as salespeople, gallery guides, and factory part pickers. Some of these robots were showcased at the conference.

Stardust Intelligence's Astribot S1 humanlike robot, which had been featured in a promotional video folding a shirt and pouring wine in late April, was also present at the conference. Some of the robots showcased at the event demonstrated complex Chinese martial arts moves, played the zither, and wrote Chinese brush calligraphy.

Stardust, a Shenzhen-based startup founded in December 2022 by a former member of and robotics projects, utilizes artificial intelligence to facilitate the imitation learning of robots, allowing them to replicate actions after observing them.

Other lesser-known robots, such as those from Galbot and Turui, were able to perform tasks such as placing products into baskets or retrieving individual soda cans from shelves to tables.

The actions were rigid and sluggish. It's often unclear whether the actions are being remotely controlled or performed autonomously. Demos do not always showcase a product's full capabilities.

The number and variety of demos at the World Robot Conference have increased significantly, according to Lanchi's Cao, with many students and young people in attendance.

According to Cao, while robot technology from Tesla and U.S. companies is likely to be one to two years ahead of that in China, China has self-sufficiency in more than 95% of the humanoid supply chain.

Cao explained that Tesla did not display Optimus in action at the conference because the promo videos already demonstrated its high capabilities, and he understood if the company did not want to invest resources in having an engineer operate demos.

Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

At the conference, Jeff Burnstein, president of the U.S. Association for Advancing Automation (A3), presented a recorded video and demonstrated virtual humanoid startups such as Agility.

The demos, although initially in pilot programs, are now being used by some companies beyond just a trial phase. The association is hosting a humanoid conference in Tennessee on Oct. 7.

Specialized focus

Humanoid companies have typically focused on developing specific parts before moving on to others.

This year, one of the products launched by Shenzhen-based Limx Dynamics is the P1, a research robot that can maintain balance on two legs. The P1 is capable of walking up and down stairs and regaining equilibrium when pushed.

More than two years ago, Limx Dynamics was founded. Its recent investors include Alibaba, as reported by PitchBook. The company recently announced that its humanoid can move objects in a warehouse and autonomously replan how to complete a task if the target is moved.

An array of gears, robot hands, and other parts were showcased by other companies at the World Robot Conference.

By the year 2030, a single robot is expected to handle simple household chores, nursing care, and medical treatment, both independently and with human assistance, according to Shigeki Sugano, president of the Robotics Society of Japan, who made the statement during a conference forum on Thursday.

He stated that he believes that fully autonomous humanoids will not be available until after 2050, but he acknowledged that they will have the ability to express emotions.

To fully support humans, a humanoid robot must address the issue of insufficient power.

A humanoid's power source can sustain operation for a maximum of two hours before requiring recharging.