Humanoid robots might “soon” be brought to the homes of everyday people, according to a new robotics center 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.
Months-old robotics centre Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center 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 labor 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.”
It comes amid China’s fierce ongoing tech war with the United States, and as China faces serious demographic challenges – including a rapidly aging population – as well as a property market crisis.
The center 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 center 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.”
