The Chinese government has announced that it will accelerate the development and mass production of autonomous humanoid robots to meet needs in industry, services and personal assistance. At the same time, China wants to become the leading country of a new technological revolution ahead of the United States.
• Also read: Elon Musk warns of “humanoid robots” that could hunt people
The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) made the announcement in a nine-page report calling on Chinese industry to pick up the pace. The idea is that the technology will make it possible to develop reliable humanoid robots in 2025 for mass production by 2027.
The roadmap is therefore particularly ambitious since the idea is to develop, over the next two years, machines capable not only of carrying out repetitive and often thankless tasks, but also of communicating with people, a real interaction between Man and machine to produce. For the Chinese government, the rise of these robots could one day have as big an impact on people’s lives as computers or smartphones once did.
Among the most advanced Chinese projects are those of Xiaomi and Fourier Intelligence. Xiaomi is working on its CyberOne, a robot that should be able to perceive space in three dimensions, but also recognize people and interpret their gestures, facial expressions and emotions. Combined with artificial intelligence, it could one day interact with them directly.
For its part, Fourier Intelligence is preparing to launch its first humanoid robot called GR-1, specialized in medical interventions, capable of moving at a speed of 5 km/h and carrying loads of tens of kilograms. The first deliveries are planned for 2024.
With this announcement, the Chinese want to pull the rug out from under the Americans’ feet and become the world’s leading market for humanoid robots. The projects on the US side are also numerous and particularly ambitious.
The start-up Figure has already developed a first prototype with “human” dimensions (1.70 m for 60 kg), which is equipped with fingers and not pliers in order to be able to manipulate various objects even better. Ultimately, Figure’s goal is to produce the world’s first commercially viable, i.e. financially “accessible,” autonomous humanoid robot. Other American companies such as Boston Dynamics, Agility Robotics and Tesla are also working on humanoid robot projects of this type that can lift, manipulate and move heavy loads.
Note that the capabilities of these machines, already spectacular on paper, could soon be enhanced by artificial intelligence. OpenAI, the publisher of ChatGPT, announces that it has invested in the Norwegian start-up 1X Technologies with the aim of developing a bipedal robot equipped with unprecedented intelligence for this type of machine.