The US and China are locked in a race to the lead the world in robotics and artificial intelligence.
Alibaba Group Holding’s mapping unit has unveiled an upgrade to what it calls the world’s first technology framework that unites a robot’s “feet, hands, brains, central nerves and motor nerves” into a single system. Amap’s ABot system marks the latest move in Chinese tech players’ race to harness artificial intelligence models to make robots more capable. Referred to as embodied intelligence, the effort aims to equip machines with the “brains” and other elements required to navigate and complete...
Chinese robotics companies lack both sufficient data and a good “brain” to improve the interaction of their products with the physical world, according to industry insiders at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), which concluded on Monday in Shanghai. The most critical challenge for the embodied AI industry was to “link hardware, data, models and real-world scenarios into a closed-loop iterative system”, said Wang Xiaogang, co-founder of SenseTime and chairman of its robotics...
It turns out it isn’t just office jobs people should be worried about AI taking, some athletes might want to watch their backs too. In a scene that could have come from the Terminator film franchise, two robots battled it out in an MMA fight in Shenzhen this week, leaving social media users stunned and one of the two combatants without a head. Dubbed the robot version of the UFC, the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend (URKL) opener was the first event of its kind, with two identical T800 robots,...
Jensen Huang, chief executive of US artificial intelligence chipmaker Nvidia, held a “yakitori summit” with Japanese executives from semiconductor materials and components companies while visiting Tokyo – a move appeared aimed at strengthening cooperation with local businesses. According to the Nikkei, Huang headed to a yakitori restaurant near Kanda Station in Tokyo, an izakaya specialising in grilled pork skewers and sake, on Wednesday. Located near Tokyo Station, the area is a popular...
Artificial intelligence has spent years learning to generate words, images and videos. Now, the industry’s attention is shifting towards “world models” – AI systems designed to simulate how the physical or digital world changes over time. While the term was originally associated with physics simulations and robotics, a growing number of Chinese companies are applying the concept more broadly. The technology remains in its infancy, with little consensus on what a world model should ultimately...
China’s innovation ecosystem has witnessed a resurgence, minting 67 new unicorn start-ups in the first half of 2026 – the biggest increase in almost five years – as AI and robotics kick off a new investment cycle. The growth translates into an average of one new unicorn – private companies valued at US$1 billion or more – in less than every three days and was the highest since the second half of 2021 when 76 new unicorns were created, according to a Monday report by ITJuzi, a start-up...
US chip giant Nvidia is ramping up a talent drive for its robotics team in China, a market whose vendors account for the lion’s share of global shipments. The Silicon Valley firm is recruiting for more than a dozen roles across Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen, according to a post on its official WeChat account on Monday. The positions span four key domains: embodied intelligence, simulation, implementation and solutions. Nvidia said its robotics team planned to build a “leading robotics platform...