Chinese automakers follow Tesla's bet on humanoid robots as next profit driver
Several Chinese automakers, including Xpeng and BYD, are pouring resources into humanoid robots as car profit margins shrink. Xpeng's robotics unit recently raised over $900 million.
Interest in humanoid robots keeps growing, and a wave of companies — many of them Chinese automakers — are betting the machines could become a major new source of profit as traditional car sales grow less lucrative.
This week Xpeng's robotics division raised more than $900 million in a round valuing it above $6.3 billion. The round was led by IDG Capital, with participation from Gaorong Ventures, Tencent, and Alibaba. The company called it the largest single private financing round ever recorded in China's "embodied AI" sector — AI systems built directly into physical machines.
Other Chinese automakers are moving in the same direction. AiMOGA, the robotics arm of Chery Automobile, reportedly began preparing for an IPO this month, while BYD unveiled its own humanoid robot, named Xiao Di. Changan, GAC, Li Auto, SAIC, and Seres are also developing humanoid robots.
According to Michael Dunne, CEO of advisory firm Dunne Insights, Xpeng most closely tracks Tesla's playbook and has committed most heavily to humanoid robots among Chinese automakers. Xpeng founder He Xiaopeng and co-president Brian Gu personally invested roughly $100 million in the latest funding round. The company's flagship humanoid, Iron, is designed for commercial deployment.
Dunne noted that Chinese automakers bring strong manufacturing capability to the effort, though it remains unclear whether they can match Tesla's progress on the AI side.
Global competition
Other companies chasing commercial humanoid robots include Agility Robotics, Apptronik, and Figure. Hyundai-owned Boston Dynamics is nearing deployment, planning to bring its Atlas robot to a Hyundai factory in Georgia this year, with tasks like parts sequencing targeted by 2028; Hyundai is also working with Google's DeepMind on the effort. Elsewhere, supplier Mobileye acquired humanoid robot startup Mentee Robotics for $900 million this year, and Rivian is exploring robotics through its Mind Robotics spinout.
