MIT Reporter Visits Shanghai Robot Carnival: Nearly 90% of Humanoids Shipped Globally Are Made in China

MIT Tech Review AI · rss · 2026-08-25

A MIT Technology Review journalist spent a day at a robot "carnival" hosted by an R&D center outside Shanghai, observing how China's humanoid industry courts the public.

Embodied AI is a key facet of China's latest five-year plan; nearly 90% of the 13,000+ two-armed, two-legged robots delivered globally last year were made in China.
On-site scenes: hot-selling robot dog toys, quadrupeds learning to climb stairs, water-bead-firing battle bots, arms making coffee and folding T-shirts, and humanoids performing drunken boxing and front flips to roaring crowds.
The hub houses 100+ robotics companies, most building practical bots for hauling heavy loads or inspecting sewage pipes.
Humanoids elsewhere remain slow, hampered by safety, high prices and short battery life, and many roboticists doubt the human form is optimal—but Chinese firms keep pushing high-profile showcases (mall performances, a humanoid half-marathon in Beijing), and the PR push appears to be winning public enthusiasm.

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MIT Reporter Visits Shanghai Robot Carnival: Nearly 90% of Humanoids Shipped Globally Are Made in China

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