Chinese automakers are following Tesla’s bet that robots are the next big profit machine

中国车企紧随特斯拉步伐，押注机器人将成为下一个利润增长点

The hype around humanoid robots isn’t particularly new. Thank Tesla CEO Elon Musk and his Optimus robot, as well as the myriad videos of Boston Dynamics’ Atlas robot, for that. Behind that hype, though, there is real progress. The physical capabilities of robots continue to improve, and researchers now believe that the AI techniques behind large language models can make complex robots capable of learning nearly any task. 围绕人形机器人的炒作并非新鲜事。这要归功于特斯拉首席执行官埃隆·马斯克及其 Optimus 机器人，以及波士顿动力公司 Atlas 机器人的无数演示视频。然而，在这些炒作背后，确实存在实质性的进展。机器人的物理能力在不断提升，研究人员现在认为，大型语言模型背后的 AI 技术可以使复杂的机器人具备学习几乎任何任务的能力。

Those tailwinds have encouraged a new batch of companies to jump in on the promise of profits from humanoid robots. And many of the latest entrants are Chinese automakers. Earlier this week, Xpeng’s robotics unit raised more than $900 million at a post-money valuation of more than $6.3 billion. The round, led by IDG Capital with participation from Gaorong Ventures, Tencent, and Alibaba, was described by the company as the largest single-round private financing ever recorded in China’s “embodied AI” industry (AI systems built directly into physical machines). 这些利好因素促使一批新公司加入，试图从人形机器人中获取利润。而最近入局的许多公司正是中国汽车制造商。本周早些时候，小鹏汽车的机器人部门完成了超过 9 亿美元的融资，投后估值超过 63 亿美元。该轮融资由 IDG 资本领投，高榕创投、腾讯和阿里巴巴跟投。公司称这是中国“具身智能”（直接嵌入物理机器的 AI 系统）行业有史以来单轮规模最大的私募融资。

This month, AiMOGA, the robotics unit of China’s Chery Automobile, reportedly began preparing for an IPO, while BYD unveiled a humanoid robot called Xiao Di. Other Chinese automakers, including Changan, GAC, Li Auto, SAIC, and Seres, are also developing humanoid robots. 本月，奇瑞汽车旗下的机器人部门 AiMOGA 据报道已开始筹备 IPO，而比亚迪则发布了一款名为“小迪”的人形机器人。其他中国车企，包括长安、广汽、理想、上汽和赛力斯，也都在开发人形机器人。

Among all of them, Xpeng is the Chinese automaker that most closely watches and follows Tesla’s initiatives, according to Michael Dunne, CEO of San Diego- and Singapore-based advisory firm Dunne Insights. “It’s the most focused on autonomy, it’s the first to commit in a big way to humanoid robots,” Dunne told TechCrunch, adding that Xpeng founder He Xiaopeng is a tech billionaire known for his agility and quick adjustments. “He sees razor-thin profit in cars on the near horizon. Robots look much more promising.” 总部位于圣地亚哥和新加坡的咨询公司 Dunne Insights 的首席执行官迈克尔·邓恩（Michael Dunne）表示，在所有这些车企中，小鹏汽车是观察并紧随特斯拉战略最紧密的中国车企。“它最专注于自动驾驶，也是第一家大规模投入人形机器人的车企，”邓恩告诉 TechCrunch，并补充说小鹏汽车创始人何小鹏是一位以敏捷和快速调整著称的科技亿万富翁。“他预见到汽车行业的利润在不久的将来会变得极其微薄。而机器人看起来前景要广阔得多。”

Xiaopeng and Xpeng co-president Brian Gu are bullish enough that they’ve put their own funds behind the robotics unit. According to the Wall Street Journal, the pair invested about $100 million into the recent fundraising round. Xpeng’s bet is on Iron, a humanoid robot with a realistic human shape that is built for commercial deployment. 何小鹏和小鹏汽车联席总裁顾宏地对此非常看好，甚至自掏腰包投资了该机器人部门。据《华尔街日报》报道，两人在最近的融资轮中投入了约 1 亿美元。小鹏汽车押注的是“Iron”，这是一款拥有逼真人类形态、专为商业部署而打造的人形机器人。

Chinese automakers like Xpeng do bring a manufacturing edge. “They have all the hardware to get the job done,” Dunne said. “Question is if they can catch Tesla on the AI side of the equation.” 像小鹏这样的中国车企确实具备制造优势。“他们拥有完成这项工作所需的所有硬件，”邓恩说。“问题在于，他们在 AI 层面能否赶上特斯拉。”

There are, of course, many other companies developing humanoid robots, including Agility Robotics, Apptronik, and Figure, all chasing the same goal: commercial deployment at scale. Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics is getting closer to that goal. Hyundai plans to bring Boston Dynamics’ Atlas humanoid robot to its Georgia factory this year and eventually deploy the robots for tasks like parts sequencing by 2028. 当然，还有许多其他公司也在开发人形机器人，包括 Agility Robotics、Apptronik 和 Figure，它们都在追求同一个目标：大规模商业部署。现代汽车旗下的波士顿动力公司正越来越接近这一目标。现代汽车计划今年将波士顿动力的 Atlas 人形机器人引入其佐治亚州工厂，并最终在 2028 年前将这些机器人部署用于零件排序等任务。

The Korean automaker, which partnered with Google’s AI research lab DeepMind to speed up the development of Atlas, is opening a U.S. facility this year called a Robot Metaplant Application Center, which will teach robots how to map movements like lifts and turns. Other automotive companies are also jumping, including supplier Mobileye, which acquired humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics earlier this year for $900 million. Even Rivian is dabbling in robots with its Mind Robotics spinout — although its robots are not expected to look quite like the humanoids in development elsewhere. 这家韩国车企与谷歌 AI 研究实验室 DeepMind 合作以加速 Atlas 的开发，并于今年在美国开设了一家名为“机器人超级工厂应用中心”（Robot Metaplant Application Center）的设施，旨在教导机器人如何规划提升和转向等动作。其他汽车公司也纷纷入局，包括供应商 Mobileye，该公司今年早些时候以 9 亿美元收购了人形机器人初创公司 Mentee Robotics。甚至 Rivian 也通过其分拆出的 Mind Robotics 涉足机器人领域——尽管其机器人预计看起来与别处开发的人形机器人不太一样。