China, as the race for artificial intelligence unfolds, has already set its eye on the next step: robots that increasingly resemble humans. The government plans to produce its first humanoids by 2025, according to a plan drawn up by the country’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.
The government will act in favor of young companies focused in this area. The plan, according to Bloomberg, envisages developing industrial standards, empowering new talent and deepening international cooperation.
Shares of Chinese robotics companies rose after the ministry’s initiative became known. The International Telecommunication Union, the UN’s technology agency, said last July that they expect robotics to take off in the next five years, with the same relevance that artificial intelligence did with ChatGPT.
OpenAI, the creator of ChatGPT, made a million-dollar investment this year in 1X Technologies, a Norwegian startup focused on developing humanoid robots. Other tech giants, such as Amazon, have begun testing their own machines, with the goal of automating some of their operations. Tesla has boasted about the progress of its humanoid robot “Optimus”.
China wants to take advantage of the potential of both technologies: it will promote the use of artificial intelligence in robotics. According to the ministry document, which did not have further details, they expect to advance in the next two years in aspects that have to do with environmental sensing, motion control and machine-human interaction capabilities.
China expects to have a large deployment of its humanoid robots by 2027
China is the world’s number one electronics manufacturer. As such, its ambition makes sense. Not only does it expect to start production in 2025, but the government expects its humanoid robots to be thinking, learning and innovating by 2027.
The government has, for the time being, called for more research into the development of robotic hands, arms and feet. They are confident that the next few years can establish a reliable industrial supply chain system to support the manufacturing of their robots.
Advances in robotics have already shown mind-blowing results, promising a leap forward in industry. It’s not just that Tesla’s “Optimus” can now also do yoga. Or that “Atlas”, manufactured by Boston Dynamics, is able to pick up objects and do backflips.
A team of researchers in South Korea has already created a humanoid robot capable of piloting an airplane. They called it “Pibot” and it combines robotics with ChatGPT’s artificial intelligence. It is a work in progress, but its creators say its capabilities could even surpass the skills of a human pilot.