Chinese Carmakers’ Robot Bets Shake Markets

Chinese automakers are doubling down on humanoid robots, chasing Tesla’s vision of AI‑driven profit machines.

Xpeng’s Mega Funding and the Iron Robot

■Xpeng’s robotics unit closed a $900 million round led by IDG Capital, with Gaorong Ventures, Tencent, and Alibaba participating.

■The round values the unit at post‑money $6.3 billion, the largest single‑round private financing ever recorded in China’s “embodied AI” sector.

■Founders He Xiaopeng and Brian Gu contributed roughly $100 million of their own capital.

■The firm is developing Iron, a lifelike humanoid robot aimed at commercial deployment.

Chery’s AiMOGA and BYD’s Xiao Di

■Chery’s robotics arm AiMOGA is reportedly preparing for an IPO this month.

■BYD unveiled its humanoid prototype Xiao Di.

■Other Chinese auto giants – Changan, GAC, Li Auto, SAIC, Seres – are also advancing humanoid robot programs.

Competitive Landscape and Industry Partners

■Agility Robotics, Apptronik, and Figure pursue scalable commercial deployment of humanoids.

■Hyundai‑owned Boston Dynamics plans to bring its Atlas robot to a Georgia factory by 2028 for parts‑sequencing tasks, aided by a partnership with Google DeepMind and a new Robot Metaplant Application Center in the U.S.

■Mobileye acquired Mentee Robotics for $900 million; Rivian experiments with robots via its Mind Robotics spin‑out.

Defne Aydın: The surge of private capital into Chinese automakers’ robotics units is reshaping valuation expectations and intensifying the rivalry with U.S. and Korean leaders. While balance‑sheet strength lets these firms chase Tesla in AI integration, the remaining gap in AI expertise will be the decisive factor determining near‑term profitability.