China vs. the US: The battle for leadership in humanoid robots.

At the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2025 in Las Vegas, USA, on January 7th, Jensen Huang, CEO of semiconductor chip manufacturer Nvidia, delivered a keynote speech, declaring that the robotics industry is nearing a historic turning point.

Standing beside him were 14 humanoid robots, representing the most advanced achievements in the field, waving to the audience under the bright stage lights.

Just a few weeks later, at the Spring Festival Gala, China's Lunar New Year celebration with over 1 billion viewers, Unitree Robotics (China) presented in a different way.

Their H1 humanoid robot models, touted as "the first robots with human-like compatibility," performed a perfectly synchronized folk dance, thanks to cloud computing and advanced AI motion control technology.

These two significant events set the tone for 2025, a year that will see fierce competition among robot manufacturers globally. Companies from numerous countries are accelerating mass production and commercialization, aiming to gain market share in the booming robotics industry.

While no single country holds an absolute advantage, China and the US are clearly leading the race. Of the 14 robots showcased at CES, six are from China and four from the US, highlighting the intense competition between the two superpowers.

China leverages its economies of scale, speed, and mature supply chains, enabling it to produce faster and cheaper. Meanwhile, the US has a significant advantage in technological innovation, with the potential to create new tech giants, similar to Tesla or OpenAI, companies capable of reshaping entire industries.

The future of robotics: Who will prevail?

2025 is predicted to be a turning point for the robotics industry, where leaders in technological innovation and mass production will determine the global market landscape.

China and the US both have their own strategies, but which nation will emerge as the leader? The answer will gradually become clear as robots become an increasingly important part of human life.

Xu Xuecheng, chief scientist at the Zhejiang Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center (China), commented: "In the US, the goal is to maintain a leading position in technology, exploring previously unsolved technical challenges. Meanwhile, China focuses on optimizing and integrating existing technologies for the most effective practical application."

He argued that Chinese companies prioritize developing humanoid robots that can operate directly in real-world environments, while American companies focus on building general artificial intelligence, sometimes going far beyond what the industry actually needs.

Just before Unitree Robotics launched its new product line, the tech industry was abuzz with the news that DeepSeek, a Chinese AI startup, had shaken the tech world by introducing its R1 large language model. This model achieved performance comparable to OpenAI's advanced products but at a fraction of the development and operating costs.

DeepSeek's launch of its AI model has shaken the long-held notion that massive capital is needed to train advanced AI systems. This event triggered a sell-off of shares by competitors and forced investors to reassess their investment strategies in the AI ​​sector.

"DeepSeek's algorithmic innovations are a stark reminder that the technological competition between China and the U.S. is more intense than ever. Our technological advantage is not a given, and the AI ​​industry needs to constantly optimize to become more efficient," Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

The U.S. still holds significant advantages in the robotics race. Its universities consistently lead with breakthroughs, opening new horizons in research, while American companies are pioneers in developing "soft" technology, the core foundation supporting this industry.

Each humanoid robot is a combination of an extremely advanced "brain," including AI, machine learning, and sensors to perceive and react to the environment, and a sophisticated "body" made from lightweight materials, incorporating flexible joints for natural movement. This tightly integrated system allows the robot to mimic gestures, speech, and interact with the environment with remarkable flexibility.

In his CES keynote speech, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang announced Cosmos, an advanced AI platform expected to power the next generation of humanoid robots.

According to a report by Goldman Sachs Research, a research division of the international investment bank Goldman Sachs (USA), the hardware for humanoid robots is nearly complete, with key components such as cameras, motors, force sensors, actuators, and batteries ready for commercialization.

This bank predicts that, with the development of AI, the process of robot improvement will occur more rapidly, especially in capabilities such as manipulation and interaction.

Many companies aim to mass-produce humanoid robots by 2025, marking a significant turning point in optimizing costs and scaling up production.

Meanwhile, China continues to consolidate its position as a manufacturing powerhouse, not only in traditional fields but also in the robotics industry. With tens of thousands of businesses involved in the supply chain, from component manufacturing and assembly to prototype design, China is gradually expanding the "world's factory" into the robotics sector.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, more than half of all robots installed globally in 2023 were deployed in China, giving domestic companies a significant cost advantage as they expand into the humanoid robot market.

The race to cut prices and gain market share.

"If companies can't keep prices below 200,000 yuan (about $27,825) this year, they will have difficulty promoting their products," said He Liang, a professor at Northwestern Polytechnic University in Xi'an.

He also heads a global humanoid robotics company and said businesses are operating with very thin profit margins, forcing them to quickly gain market share to survive.

"In fact, we've already seen a price war underway in China," he added.

This battle became clear when Unitree Robotics, a Hangzhou-based company, announced plans to mass-produce its G1 model at a price of just 99,000 yuan (approximately $12,520), a shocking figure compared to the standard price of 500,000 yuan (approximately $69,560) of its competitors.

Founder Wang Xingxing revealed that prices will drop even further as production scales up, with the ambition to ship hundreds of thousands of robots annually.

Meanwhile, Agibot, a Shanghai-based startup, announced last December that it would begin mass production of multi-purpose robots. To date, the company has built a total of 962 wheeled bipedal robots, with over 200 used internally and nearly 700 shipped, primarily for service and manufacturing applications.

Not only are Chinese companies aggressively expanding production, but the race is also intense in the US. Tesla CEO and billionaire Elon Musk aims to produce thousands of Optimus multi-purpose robots by 2025, before ramping up production to millions of robots annually.

He predicted that production costs could drop below $20,000, but the final selling price would depend on market demand.

In addition, Agility Robotics, another leading American company, has raised $150 million in investment from Amazon and built the RoboFab factory in Oregon, with a production capacity of tens of thousands of Digit robots per year.

In an increasingly competitive environment, speed and rapid deployment are becoming key factors for success. Professor He Liang argues that the focus now is no longer on overcoming individual technical challenges but on optimizing the entire system.

"If you fall behind in 30 out of 100 technical fields, it doesn't matter, as long as you lead in the remaining 70," he emphasized. "Currently, I don't see any challenges that are insurmountable. Ultimately, in this game, the fast fish will eat the slow fish."

The humanoid robot race: China andAmerica is shaping the future of technology.

Speed ​​of deployment plays a crucial role, and the differences between American and Chinese companies are evident in terms of production scale, financial resources, and talent.

Tesla, with its powerful computing platform and abundant financial resources, is able to shorten the research and development (R&D) phase and quickly bring products to market. The company can sell millions of robots annually, while Chinese companies have the advantage of significantly lower production costs.

However, with its enormous number of enterprises, China could generate cumulative output equal to, or even surpass, that of its American rivals.

"This is the problem," He Liang observed. "The more you sell, the more data you collect from real-world customer situations. When combined with a powerful computing platform, this data makes the robots smarter."

In the long run, this cycle of innovation can widen the gap between leading companies and lagging competitors, especially as the industry reaches maturity.

Wang Lei, chairman of Shanghai Qingbao Engine Robot, a company that sold dozens of robots in 2024, warned that Chinese businesses should not follow in Tesla's footsteps.

"Once Tesla has pioneered a particular field, we shouldn't copy them," he emphasized. "They're piloting a rocket, and we're flying airplanes; if we try to catch up, the gap will only widen."

Unlike Tesla, which already has a strong foothold in the electric vehicle industry, Chinese companies are seeking to explore untapped niche markets.

"If we're just chasing Tesla, we'll always be the pursuer," Wang said, emphasizing the importance of creating unique niches to maintain a competitive edge.

At the same time, as the technology race between China and the US intensifies, Washington is tightening its control over strategic technologies, particularly AI chips, adding pressure to Beijing's high-tech ambitions and raising questions about the future of the humanoid robotics industry.

Last month, former US President Joe Biden announced new regulations aimed at restricting the export of AI chips, targeting China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea.

These measures, enacted just before Biden leaves office on January 20, will completely cut off exports of this technology to four geopolitical rivals, while ensuring close US allies have unrestricted access to critical components.

Nevertheless, Lu Hancheng, director of the Gaogong Robotics Industry Research Institute in Shenzhen, believes that China's humanoid robot companies are not currently significantly affected, as common chips still meet training needs. However, this could change as computing demands increase exponentially.

"When the industry shifts from a data-centric focus to a demand for superior computing power, that's when the real challenge begins," Lu said.

Nevertheless, amidst geopolitical tensions and fierce competition, there is a bright spot: academic cooperation between the two countries has largely remained uninterrupted.

Xu Xuecheng, an expert at the Zhejiang Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center, shared: "In the early stages, China and the US tend to jointly expand the boundaries of artificial intelligence, rather than competing individually."

He also pointed out that collaborative projects between the two countries take place regularly, especially in the fields of robotic intelligence development and brain modeling design.

Furthermore, leading global robotics conferences continue to see participation from scientists from both superpowers, with many research papers co-authored by experts from both countries.