China Prepares Humanoid Robots for Military Combat: Industry Impact - Global Banking & Finance Review
BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) - At the World Humanoid Robot Games in China last month, robots jumped, boxed and danced. Some fleet-footed bots ran faster than Usain Bolt over 100 meters.
Key takeaways
- XPENG Inc. announced on September 7 2026 that its humanoid‑robot production lines in Guangzhou are now fully operational, with the world’s first advanced general‑purpose humanoid robot—IRON—autonomously walking off the line after completing production.
- The plant boasts over 80 % core process automation, 76 degrees of freedom across the body and 21 degrees of freedom per hand, and is powered by three Turing‑AI chips capable of 2 250 TOPS.
- XPENG plans to begin mass production by the end of 2026, with the first robots slated for delivery in 2027 to Chinese and overseas markets.
- Meanwhile, China’s military has intensified efforts to transition humanoid robots from laboratory prototypes to combat training, following the World Humanoid Robot Games that showcased robots running faster than Usain Bolt and performing various tasks; the People’s Liberation Army’s official newspaper has called for accelerated deployment of humanoid “combatants” alongside robot dogs and unmanned vehicles.
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BEIJING, Sept 7 (Reuters) - At the World Humanoid Robot Games in China last month, robots jumped, boxed and danced. Some fleet-footed bots ran faster than Usain Bolt over 100 meters. Spectators cheered the machines’ improving capabilities and their meme-worthy stumbles.
Two days after the Games ended, the People's Liberation Army's official newspaper drew its own conclusions from the show. The PLA Daily called for researchers to accelerate the transfer of cutting-edge technologies from laboratories to military training grounds for robotic “combatants.” China's defense establishment is accelerating research into humanoids’ military uses and planning for their eventual wartime deployment, according to a Reuters review of more than 100 Chinese military procurement notices, academic studies, patents, official publications, government records and defense-company materials.
Military institutions are testing humanoids against battlefield requirements, seeking to acquire robots and technologies to train them, and studying how they might function alongside troops, the previously unreported records show. The work gained momentum in 2025 and 2026, focusing on robot perception, manipulation, and training data. Humanoid robots currently face challenges related to energy consumption, reliability, and performance outside controlled environments.
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Finance Defense technology Robotics Asia
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