An economic planning commission has warned that a bubble could form in the booming industry amid explosive investment levels
China’s humanoid robotics industry risks facing a bubble as a result of the current investment frenzy, the country’s economic planning commission has warned.
Speaking to reporters in Beijing on Thursday, a spokesperson for the National Development and Reform Commission, Li Chao, stated that the country’s authorities were seeking to prevent the explosive expansion of the sector from overwhelming the market.
“Frontier industries have long grappled with the challenge of balancing the speed of growth against the risk of bubbles – an issue now confronting the humanoid robot sector as well,” the official said.
In China alone, more than 150 companies operate in the field, with Unitree among the most prominent. The firm’s dancing droids were featured in the Spring Festival Gala earlier this year.
In February, Unitree released a video featuring its G1 humanoid robot performing Kung fu moves.
Other fast-growing startups, such as AgiBot and Galbot, have presented their own humanoid robots that are capable of running marathons, kickboxing and making coffee, among other activities.
The Chinese government has designated the booming industry as one of six new economic growth drivers for the coming five years.
The recent flurry of activity in the sector has seen the Solactive China Humanoid Robotics Index, which tracks the shares of robot-related companies, shoot up by nearly 30% this year.
Companies elsewhere in the world, including tech heavyweights Tesla, Meta, and OpenAI, have also been actively developing humanoid robots in recent years.
Last month, WIRED magazine quoted Tesla CEO Elon Musk as predicting that a “robot army” could become a reality in the not-so-distant future.
Tesla’s humanoid robot, Optimus, has already appeared at company events performing simple tasks, with a new version, Optimus V3, expected in the first quarter of 2026.
Musk has claimed that humanoid robots could transform society by taking over manual labor or even rendering work optional altogether for humans.