Even the Companies Making Humanoid Robots Think They’re Overhyped - The Wall Street Journal
Beyond the macroeconomic trends, improvements in battery and motor technology mean that robots are becoming more adept at mimicking human motion and can work for longer periods.
Key takeaways
The most recent reporting shows that China is poised to dominate short‑term humanoid‑robot deployment, with UBTech raising $400 million to expand production and targeting 5,000 humanoid units in 2026 and 10,000 in 2027, while AgiBot celebrated its 5,000th robot rolling off its Shanghai line in December 2025. Xpeng also unveiled a second‑generation humanoid called “Iron” at the IAA show and has announced mass‑production plans for next year. In the United States, Elon Musk continues to promise “insatiable” demand for Tesla’s Optimus and has set a goal of manufacturing one million units annually by 2030, a target echoed by Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang who said the enabling technology is “just around the corner.” Venture capital activity remains strong, with roughly $5 billion invested in humanoid startups in 2025, although industry insiders and analysts increasingly warn that the technology is over‑hyped and that safe, autonomous operation in human‑occupied spaces is still years away. Safety concerns have already led to legal action, as Figure AI’s former head of safety systems sued the company for wrongful termination after raising alarms about a robot malfunction that could fracture a human skull. Security researchers also demonstrated a new attack on commercial Unitree humanoids, showing they can be compromised via voice commands and used to infect nearby units. At the upcoming CES 2026, LG plans to debut its CLOiD humanoid service robot, marketed as a “zero‑labor home” assistant, while other exhibitors are expected to showcase incremental advances rather than fully autonomous, home‑ready bots.
Beyond the macroeconomic trends, improvements in battery and motor technology mean that robots are becoming more adept at mimicking human motion and can work for longer periods. Earlier this month, the CEO of one of the hottest robot startups, Figure AI, posted a video of the company’s latest humanoid bot jogging in a manner eerily similar to a human. Dozens of robot startups are attracting huge investments, with around $5 billion being invested in humanoid robots this year, said Kelkar of McKinsey.
The Mini Pi Bipedal robot by High Torque shown at the Humanoids Summit in California, the world’s largest event devoted to the subject.
The Fourier GR-3 robot on display at the Humanoids Summit.
High Torque's Mini Pi Bipedal Robot and the Fourier GR-3 at the Humanoids Summit in California, the world’s largest event devoted to the subject. Elon Musk predicts that demand for humanoid robots will be “insatiable” and has said that Tesla aims to produce one million of the company’s Optimus robots a year by 2030. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has said he believes the world is on the cusp of making everything that moves robotic. “Humanoid robots, the technology that makes it possible is just around the corner,” Huang said on a podcast in January.
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