Recently, a humanoid robot appeared on the cover of Time magazine and was hailed as one of the greatest inventions of 2024. In the list of the best inventions of 2024 selected by Time magazine, a number of humanoid robot products were selected.
New humanoid robot products continue to emerge, and technology continues to iterate. AI is the key to empowering humanoid robots and is also the advantage of overseas technology giants. For the trillion-yuan market that has reached consensus among many parties, commercialization and mass production will be the key to opening up the market. A reporter from the Shanghai Securities News learned that with the release of the NEO bipedal humanoid robot for home use by star startup 1X in August this year, the mass production node of home humanoid robots is approaching.
Humanoid robots continue to be upgraded
Recently, Boston Dynamics released the latest demonstration video of its humanoid robot Atlas. In the video, Atlas's task is to transfer the engine cover from the container to the moving sorting trolley. Atlas efficiently completes a range of tasks typically required in industrial settings, simulating factory work.
Atlas is "fully autonomous," according to the Boston company, relying on advanced machine learning vision models to detect and respond to changes in the environment. This capability enables Atlas to operate independently and respond to changing environments in real time without relying on human instructions.
Tesla also recently demonstrated the latest progress of its humanoid robot Optimus Gen3. In the demonstration video, Optimus Gen3 has significantly improved its intelligence, flexibility and weight control. Its 22 degrees of freedom dexterous hand design allows it to complete delicate operations such as playing the piano. Optimus Gen3's hand will be designed like a human forearm, driven by tendons and controlled by tendons. These upgrades help robots handle more sophisticated and complex tasks.
Among the humanoid robot star companies that have attracted international attention, there are technology giants such as Tesla and Boston Dynamics, as well as startups such as 1X and Figure AI. These start-ups have received strong support from technology giants such as NVIDIA and OpenAI, and have been deeply empowered in terms of funding and AI technology. NVIDIA and Meta have previously released robot training tools, and NVIDIA's AI agent Eureka can even teach robots various complex movements.
In early August, Figure AI, which has received investments from OpenAI, Microsoft, Nvidia, etc., released the second-generation humanoid robot Figure 02, calling it "the most advanced AI hardware on the planet." Figure 02 is equipped with a visual language model (VLM) to perform common sense visual reasoning based on the perception and understanding of the physical world. It is equipped with a speech-to-speech reasoning model to carry out voice interaction with humans through built-in microphones and speakers.
Home robots take the lead in commercialization
Tesla CEO Elon Musk has revealed that by 2025, Tesla will have thousands of humanoid robots at work, and formal commercial mass production will start in 2026, and will eventually become Tesla "The biggest product ever". Compared with "working in factories", household humanoid robots have entered the commercial implementation stage earlier. At the end of August, Norwegian startup 1X launched a new generation of NEO bipedal humanoid robots for the home consumer market, becoming the first humanoid robot company in the world to achieve commercial sales.
A video released by 1X Company shows that NEO can perform a variety of household tasks, from organizing kitchen utensils, delivering items, to completing complex operations such as making coffee, and the price will be controlled to "equivalent to the level of an economical car." 1X Company plans to achieve initial mass production next year and achieve an order of magnitude increase in production and sales every year in the future.
1X Company also has an extraordinary background. Not only does it have Open AI, the world's top AI company, as a strong shareholder, it has also been recognized and invested by professional investment institutions such as SoftBank, Swedish EQT, and Tiger Management, the world's leading investment institutions. Among A-share companies, Zhongjian Technology participated in investing in 1X company.
Bao Jialong, deputy general manager and chief strategy officer of Zhongjian Technology, told reporters that the powerful functions and broad market prospects of 1X’s robots are largely due to its in-depth cooperation with Open AI. The powerful learning capabilities provided by large AI models enable 1X Company's robots to accelerate the iteration of "machine learning machines" and "machine learning people", thereby realizing the rapid implementation and promotion of robots, the largest application scenario of artificial intelligence.
"The key to humanoid robots entering homes and service scenarios is weight reduction." Zhou Guangpu, an investor in the technology field, told reporters. The industry believes that the weight of home robots should be less than 40kg. Currently, the NEO robot weighs 30kg and the Tesla humanoid robot weighs 73kg. Weight reduction will be the focus of industrialization of Tesla humanoid robots into homes.
China's supply chain will open up new space
The humanoid robot system is complex, and towards mass production, the software side needs cloud computing and big data solution capabilities, and the hardware side needs strong supply chain support. Zhou Guangpu believes that Chinese companies can provide products and solutions in terms of sensors, motors, reducers, die-casting parts, etc. in the hardware part of humanoid robots, and have obvious cost advantages.
Zhongzheng Technology, which became an investor in 1X Company, did not regard this investment opportunity as a simple financial investment. "We are looking forward to further cooperation with 1X." Bao Jialong said.
In mid-October, Zhongjian Technology established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Shanghai Zhongjian Zhikrypton Intelligent Technology Co., Ltd. Zhongjian Technology said that the wholly-owned subsidiary will promote business and product support cooperation for overseas intelligent robot products. Bao Jialong revealed that with the launch of 1X Company’s new generation of humanoid robot products, the value of the company’s supply chain cooperation with 1X Company will be more prominent in the future.
Recently, amid investors' keen interest in humanoid robots, many listed companies have indicated the possibility of entering the humanoid robot supply chain on investor interactive platforms. Shuanglin Co., Ltd., which is engaged in the R&D, manufacturing and sales of automotive parts, said that with the continuous development of the humanoid robot industry, roller screw products for humanoid robots have ushered in unprecedented development opportunities. Taking into account the homology in technological development between the company's industry-leading and core competitive car seat horizontal drives and humanoid robot planetary roller screw products, as well as the similarities in production processes such as threads and gear processing, the company decided to Entering the field of planetary roller screws for military robots and creating a new performance growth curve.
Horn Automotive stated on the investor interaction platform that sensors related to the field of humanoid robots are similar to the company's main business product in the field of automotive intelligent driving perception. Xianglou New Materials said that materials in the field of robotics are mainly used in reducers, bearings and other fields, and are still under development. Kodali said that based on the future development prospects of humanoid robots, the company will expand the field of humanoid robot joint components through harmonic reducer and other product businesses, opening up space for future growth.
Goldman Sachs predicts that the humanoid robot market is expected to reach US$154 billion by 2035. At the 8th Future Investment Plan Conference held at the end of October, Musk predicted that within the next 20 years, the number of humanoid robots in the world will exceed humans; by 2040, at least 10 billion humanoid robots will be in use in the world. The robots may sell for $20,000 to $25,000.