China’s humanoid – Elon Musk praised Chinese humanoid robots during a Beijing trip tied to President Donald Trump’s state visit, as U.S. and Chinese robotics firms race ahead on autonomy, real-world data, and the question of how these machines should be used.
Elon Musk landed in Beijing amid President Donald Trump’s state visit to China, and the reaction to the country’s humanoid robotics push was quick. Musk, whose Tesla also works on humanoid robots, called the Chinese bots “cool.”
Trump said his meeting with President Xi Jinping went well and expressed hope for more American collaboration with China.. But the race now underway is not just about showy prototypes.. It turns on what the robots can do on their own—and what it will take to make them reliable enough to handle everyday or high-risk work without remote guidance.
Joanna Stern, NBC News’ chief technology analyst, pointed to the key gap: “Where all of the robotics industry needs to improve is in the brains of these robots, in the software that allows these robots to actually do the things we want, whether they be in a house or an industrial setting.”
That “brains” challenge depends on training data drawn from the real world.. Before humanoids can reliably wash dishes. fold laundry. or navigate complex environments. manufacturers need vast amounts of movement data to teach them how to act.. Several companies, including U.S.. firms, are now offering cash to people willing to strap iPhones to their bodies and record their every move.
For companies building the machines themselves, the debate over purpose is also sharpening.. Over at X-Humanoid, Gao said the company’s robots are powerful, but it does not want them militarized.. Still, she added that there is real value in sending humanoids into emergency situations or dangerous environments.
Inside X-Humanoid’s facility, the work moves from hardware to behavior.. The robots pass through production stages—assembled. tested and programmed—before they’re ready to tackle the kind of tasks designed to be unpleasant or unsafe for people.. The company says its robots are built to crawl through tight crevices or trudge across rough terrain. emphasizing employment where humans would rather not go.
Rather than framing robots as replacements, the company stresses partnership. “We want the robot to help people, free people from this dangerous, harsh, repetitive working environment,” Gao said, pointing to tasks like power inspections.
In one section of the facility. several dozen half-finished humanoids were lined in a grid. waiting for their heads to be attached.. They had no legs yet; their torso tapered into a boxy wheeled unit—an image of a fast-moving industry assembling the bodies and the software that will determine where humanoid robotics goes next.
humanoid robotics China Elon Musk Tesla Donald Trump Xi Jinping Elon Musk Beijing visit autonomy robotics training data X-Humanoid power inspections iPhones strapped to bodies