The robot will be on display on August 6, 2025 in Beijing, China at Robot Mall, the world’s first embodied intelligence robot 4S store.
Beijing youth every day | Visual China Group | Getty Images
BEIJING – As domestic robot racing gets hot, Chinese humanoid startup X-Square robots announced on Monday. Alibaba cloud.
It’s the eighth round of funding for the startup based in Shenzhen, Chief Operating Officer Yang Qian said the company was launched two years ago in December 2023. She told CNBC that the latest deal would bring about a total investment in X-Square robots to around 2 billion yuan ($280 million).
Hong Shan, formerly a Sequoia Capital China, also took part in his latest fundraising round. MeituanLegend Star, Legend Capital, Inse Capital. The startup declined to comment on its rating.
Venture capitalists are rushing to pour money into humanoid robots in response to expectations that integration with generative artificial intelligence will change how machines interact with humans.
“Now we need robots to autonomously manipulate and complete complex tasks,” Yang said in Mandarin, translated by CNBC. She noted that after decades trying to develop robots that could perform limited tasks such as grasping objects, the industry realized that AI was needed to enable these machines to expand their capabilities.
On Monday, X Square Robot also released what is called the “open source foundation model of embodied AI” called Wall-oss. Open source means that the developers and the public can access and use the underlying code for free. Essentialized AI refers to use cases of technology integrated with hardware, such as robots and self-driving vehicles.
The startup says it was the first to open this kind of AI model exclusively for robotics, and expects “robot butler” to become a reality within five years. CNBC was unable to confirm the claim.
Yang acknowledged that robotic AI is still lagging behind advances in generated AI for chat or code generation, and said he hopes that robotic Tech will not achieve ChatGPT 3.5 type functionality for at least 12 months. Yang also noted that “embodied AI” still lacks a very clear benchmark that can define relative advancements.
While the startup is using it nvidia With chips for computing, other features only require strong automotive chips that can be sourced domestically, Yang said.
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CHATGPT 3.5 is the groundbreaking chatbot model of US-based Openai launched in November 2022, changing business expectations for the possibilities of AI. Chinese companies didn’t create viable competitors until the release of Deepseek’s R1 open source model earlier this year. Analysts suggest that China is on the path to gaining a global edge in AI applications, including robots.
In addition to open source software, X Square Robot launched its Quanta X2 robot on Monday. It says that startups can attach MOP heads to 360-degree cleanings and have a hand that allows them to perceive subtle changes in pressure in steps towards more human-like functions.
X Square Robot said there are currently no products for mass market delivery, and the specific price is determined by the robot’s use case. Humanoid robots cost $80,000, according to research firm Humanoid Guide. Currently, rival Unitree sells humanoids for $16,000, but it’s unclear how advanced the feature is.
Yang said the robotics company is planning to start preparing for an initial public offering next year, but the startup has yet to resolve where the list is. She said X Square Robot has already made revenue from sales to schools, hotels and nursing homes, and hopes to grow next year.
She added that the startup has already spoken to customers in Japan and Singapore. However, for a robot to actually enter the consumer market, its price must be around $10,000 (mainly due to reduced hardware costs).
