WAIC 2026: humanoid robots go to work, not just demo

No more showboating. At the ninth World Artificial Intelligence Conference, which opened in Shanghai on 17 July, humanoid robots stopped performing and started working. Past shows leaned on backflips and boxing; this year robots served as both product and staff, guiding visitors and minding unmanned retail points, the first time full-size humanoids were deployed at … Read more

China’s dexterous-hand ‘new four’ form a first tier

A year ago China’s dexterous-hand sector was a demo-dominated infancy. Capital interest was thin, most makers were still validating concepts, and industry shipments sat at the hundred-to-thousand-unit level, with products suited to trade-show displays rather than stable industrial use or full humanoid integration. In a single year the picture flipped. Hot money rushed in, new … Read more

AgiBot overtakes Unitree as China takes 97 per cent of global humanoid shipments

The first half of 2026 reshuffled the humanoid rankings. AgiBot shipped more than Unitree for the first time, taking the global lead. According to a 9 August report from Smart Analytics Global, a California research firm, global humanoid shipments reached about 19,100 units in the first half, nearly triple the 5,100 a year earlier. Full-year … Read more

GAC spin-out Huilun Robotics closes 100 million yuan round for humanoids

Guangdong Huilun Technology, the embodied-AI subsidiary GAC Group spun out to industrialise humanoids, has closed a 100 million yuan funding round. The capital will fund vertical-model optimisation, expansion into automotive production-line and service scenarios, core-product iteration, team building and the scaled rollout of humanoid whole machines and core components. Huilun Robotics’ GoMate Mini wheel-leg humanoid … Read more

Westlake Robotics banks 500 million yuan across four rounds in six months

Westlake Robotics has closed a nearly 100 million yuan Series A round led by Haiyuan Capital, its fourth raise in six months, taking total funding to 500 million yuan. The money backs development of a unified whole-body large model for humanoids and a talent base for embodied intelligence, pushing toward what the company calls an … Read more

IO-AI Tech closes several-hundred-million-yuan round backed by Shunwei and Shenzhen Capital

IO-AI Tech, a robotics and embodied-intelligence data-infrastructure company, has closed a several-hundred-million-yuan funding round. The round was backed by Shunwei Capital, SongHe Capital and Shenzhen Capital Group, with a strategic investment from a leading robot original-equipment manufacturer. The company said the proceeds will go mainly into core product development, building a more diversified team and … Read more