China Is Going All-In to Beat the U.S. on Humanoid Robots - The Wall Street Journal

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More than 140 humanoid-robotics companies have emerged in China.

By

Yoko Kubota and

Raffaele Huang | Photography by Qilai Shen for WSJ

Feb. 7, 2026 5:30 am ET

SUZHOU, China—Elon Musk has been telling investors for months that Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot will revolutionize the world andcreate a new mega-industry. But most of it could belong to China, he has warned.

“China is an ass-kicker, next level,” Musk said in January. “To the best of our knowledge, we don’t see any significant [humanoid robot] competitors outside of China.” China is moving quickly to try to dominate the industry. Humanoid-robotics companies are sprouting up from Shenzhen to Suzhou, with more than 140 and counting. Tapping a vast ecosystem of parts suppliers and engineering talent, they are starting to produce humanoid robots at scale and actively introducing them into real-life scenarios in factories, hotels and offices.

Setting the broader industry direction is Beijing, which has identified “embodied AI”—the fusion of artificial intelligence with physical systems—as a cutting-edge technology area China wants to own in the coming five years.

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