Against the backdrop of declining car profits, an increasing number of Chinese automakers are focusing on humanoid robots as their next key business area. According to TechCrunch, Tesla's continuous investment in Optimus is prompting automakers to re-evaluate the commercial potential of robotics, and Chinese manufacturers are quickly following suit.
Xpeng's financing scale ranks among the top.
This week, Xpeng's robotics department completed a financing round of over $900 million, with a post-investment valuation exceeding $6.3 billion. The company stated that this is one of the largest single-round private financings in China's embodied intelligence industry to date. Participants include IDG Capital, Gaorong Venture Capital, Tencent, and Alibaba.
The report mentioned that He Xiaopeng, the chairman of Xpeng, and Gu Hongdi, the president, also participated in this round of financing. The Wall Street Journal stated that the two contributed a total of about $100 million. Xpeng's current focus is on the humanoid robot Iron, with the goal of advancing its commercialization.
Multiple automakers are entering the market simultaneously
Apart from Xpeng, Chinese automakers have recently shown a noticeable increase in their activities related to humanoid robots. It is reported that the robotics department under Chery Automobile, AiMOGA, has begun preparations for IPO, while BYD released a humanoid robot named "Xiao Di" this month.
At the same time, automakers such as Changan, GAC, Li Auto, SAIC, and Seres are also developing humanoid robots. Reports quote Dunne Insights, the CEO of consulting firm Michael Dunne, as saying that among these companies, Xpeng is the one closest to Tesla's approach, especially with more concentrated investment in autonomous driving and humanoid robots.
Automobile companies are eyeing manufacturing capabilities and new sources of profit.
Michael Dunne believes that one of the important reasons why car companies are actively entering this field is that the profit margins of their overall vehicle business are narrowing, and robots are seen as a new business with greater growth potential.
He stated that Chinese automakers have obvious advantages in hardware manufacturing, and their experience in supply chains, assembly, and mass production can be directly applied to the robotics business. However, the real competitive point lies in AI capabilities, especially who can faster utilize large model-related technologies for complex robot training, enabling robots to learn more practical tasks.
Currently, many companies around the world are competing for large-scale commercial opportunities in humanoid robots. In addition to Chinese automakers and Tesla, this includes startups such as Agility Robotics, Apptronik, and Figure.
Modern, Mobileye, is also advancing its deployment efforts.
The report also mentioned that Hyundai Motor's Boston Dynamics is approaching the commercial deployment phase. Hyundai plans to introduce its Atlas humanoid robot to its factory in Georgia, USA this year, and aims to have it undertake tasks such as parts sorting by 2028. To accelerate research and development, Hyundai has also collaborated with AI, a research institution under Google.
In addition, companies in the automotive industry chain are also accelerating their strategic layouts. Mobileye acquired a humanoid robotics startup Mentee Robotics earlier this year for $900 million. Rivian has also ventured into the robotics field through a spin-off project Mind Robotics, although its product focus is not entirely on typical humanoid robots.
