China commercialises humanoid robots

China’s humanoid robot business is moving from demos to checkout pages, with two Chinese companies now listing full-size machines for sale online. (wired.com) Unitree has listed its R1 humanoid on AliExpress for about $4,370, a price Wired reported is far below the six-figure tags that have defined most humanoid robots sold to labs and companies. Wired said the listing marks one of the first attempts to sell a humanoid robot through a mass-market global shopping platform. (wired.com) Chery-backed AiMOGA began online sales of its Mornine M1 on April 13 through a JD.com flagship store at 285,800 yuan, or about $41,830, according to CnEVPost and the product listing indexed by search results. China EV Home reported a similar dollar figure of about $41,860. (cnevpost.com) (jd.com) (chinaevhome.com) A humanoid robot is a machine built with two arms, two legs, and a torso so it can use spaces and tools designed for people. Selling one online does not mean it is ready for ordinary households; it means manufacturers are starting to test demand outside research contracts and factory pilots. (wired.com) (cnevpost.com) China is also pushing these machines into real jobs. CGTN reported on April 12 that a humanoid dual-arm robot with magnetic wall-climbing capability had entered service in Tangshan, Hebei, for welding, inspection, and rust removal on tanks, ships, and energy facilities. (news.cgtn.com) That deployment shows where many near-term buyers are likely to be: industrial operators paying for machines that can work in dangerous places, stay cabled for continuous power, and use tools already common on worksites. CGTN said a separate land-based inspection robot is being used for emergencies including fires and toxic gas leaks. (news.cgtn.com) At the same time, companies are marketing mobility as a selling point. Unitree’s H1 humanoid reached 10.1 meters per second in a recent track test, according to Interesting Engineering, while Global Times reported Unitree released the video on April 11 and described the peak speed as 10 meters per second. (interestingengineering.com) (globaltimes.cn) Unitree’s own H1 product page says the robot is 1.8 meters tall and weighs about 47 kilograms, and describes it as a full-size general-purpose humanoid that can walk and run. The sprint number came from a test video rather than a standardized public race result. (unitree.com) (interestingengineering.com) China’s government is also building rules around the category. CGTN reported in March that China released its first industry standard for embodied intelligence, and in February published a broader standard system framework for humanoid robots and embodied artificial intelligence. (news.cgtn.com 1) (news.cgtn.com 2) The immediate result is not a robot in every living room. It is a market where Chinese companies are putting price tags, storefronts, and work assignments on humanoids at the same time, which is a different stage from showing prototypes on a stage. (wired.com) (news.cgtn.com)