Elon Musk envisions humanoid robots everywhere. China may be the first to make it a reality

The company is listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange and this month carried out a share placement to raise around $400 million to fund its expansion. UBTech plans to deliver 500 industrial robots this year and ramp up production of its humanoid robots to 5,000 in 2026 and 10,000 in 2027, the South China Morning Post reported in November.

AgiBot is another player that said this month its 5,000th humanoid robot rolled off the production line. Xpeng displayed its humanoid robot called "Iron" at the IAA auto show in Munich, Germany on September 8, 2025.

Arjun Kharpal | CNBC

Chinese electric vehicle maker Xpeng also debuted its second-generation humanoid robot called Iron last month, and plans to begin mass production of the product next year.

There are more than 150 humanoid robot companies in China, but these are among the biggest.

China vs U.S. advantages An engineer debugs robots at the factory of AgiBot, a leading robotics company specializing in embodied intelligence, on December 8, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Tang Yanjun/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

Tang Yanjun | China News Service | China News Service | Getty Images