China’s dancing robots: how worried should we be? | China | The Guardian

Comparing this year’s performances with last year’s – when viewers saw “fundamentally a single choreographic mode” with limited motions including walking, twisting and kicking – Stieler said one key signal of China’s robot progress is “the ability to run large numbers of near-identical humanoids in synchronised motion with stable gaits and consistent joint behaviour”. Kyle Chan, an expert in China’s technology development at Brookings Institution, a policy organisation in Washington DC, said Beijing uses these public robot performances to “dazzle domestic and international audiences with China’s technological prowess”. “Unlike AI models or industrial equipment, humanoid robots are highly visible examples of China’s technological leadership that general audiences can see on their phones or televisions,” he said. Comparing this year’s performances with last year’s – when viewers saw “fundamentally a single choreographic mode” with limited motions including walking, twisting and kicking – Stieler said one key signal of China’s robot progress is “the ability to run large numbers of near-identical humanoids in synchronised motion with stable gaits and consistent joint behaviour”. Major government projects such as Made in China 2025 and the 14th Five-Year Plan, have made robotics and AI key Beijing priorities. Morgan Stanley projects that China’s humanoid sales will more than double to 28,000 units in 2026; and Elon Musk has said he expects his biggest competitor to be Chinese companies as he pivots Tesla toward a focus on embodied AI and its flagship humanoid Optimus. Pointing to intensifying competition in the tech space between China and the US, Chan added: “While China and the US are neck-and-neck on AI, humanoid robots are an area where China can claim to be ahead of the US, particularly in terms of scaling up production.”