European robotics start-ups go up against China giants - Kuwait Times
PARIS: Humanoid robots able to perform tasks from grape harvesting to welcoming visitors were front and centre at France’s Vivatech trade fair this week, with European firms looking to fill niches beyond what dominant Chinese giants can offer.
Key takeaways
- The humanoid‑robot sector is heating up with several high‑profile moves announced in June 2026.
- Chinese EV giant BYD, represented by executive Stella Li, said it plans to place humanoid robots in every car showroom, positioning itself against Tesla’s upcoming Optimus production line.
- In the United States, Agility Robotics is heading to Wall Street via a SPAC that values the company at about $2.5 billion; its full‑size Digit robot is already deployed in nine customer facilities, including Amazon, Toyota and GXO, and the firm will be the first to embed Nvidia’s new Halos safety system for robots operating around people.
- Nvidia itself is promoting Halos, a software suite derived from self‑driving‑car technology, to make humanoid robots safer for close human interaction.
- Meanwhile, delivery‑robot startup Robot.com is expanding beyond campus delivery with “R‑noid,” a wheeled humanoid that can package orders, load boxes and prep workstations, and it claims deployment can occur within eight to twelve weeks after site assessment.
PARIS: Humanoid robots able to perform tasks from grape harvesting to welcoming visitors were front and centre at France’s Vivatech trade fair this week, with European firms looking to fill niches beyond what dominant Chinese giants can offer. When it comes to sheer robotics production capacity, China is unrivalled thanks to companies including Unitree and Agibot. Their androids’ tightly choreographed displays wowed visitors to Vivatech, the latest fair to show them off in recent months.
Around 87 percent of the 13,000 humanoid robots deployed worldwide in 2025 rolled off a Chinese production line, according to the UK-based consultancy Omdia. “China is definitely on the forefront” as its companies increasingly show off “dark factories” where robots work largely without human supervision, said Joern Buss, a robotics expert at the consultancy Arthur D Little. Nevertheless, Europe is “catching up” behind Japan and Korea, he added, boasting “some good robotics players” including longstanding firms. New players on the European scene include Germany’s Neura, which builds humanoid industrial and household robots as well as a platform for training them to carry out human tasks.
The company recently announced it had raised $1.4 billion. “We get requests for everything, even dentists, everyone is calling us and asking if they can have a robot as a supporter, because they can’t find people,” chief executive David Reger told AFP.
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