208 Companies, Over 300 Real Robots: The Robot Army Commands Attention

July 17, 2026, Shanghai.

The Expo, Zhangjiang, and West Bund—dubbed the 'Three Sites, Four Venues'—launched simultaneously, heralding the fiery opening of the 9th World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) under the theme 'Intelligent Partners, Creating the Future Together.'

Amid a global AI spectacle featuring 11 Turing Award and Nobel laureates, along with over a thousand enterprises, one theme emerged as the undisputed star: embodied AI.

The numbers tell a compelling story. Participating embodied AI firms surged from over 80 last year to more than 200, with 208 embodied AI terminals and over 300 real robots converging on-site.

Industry leaders such as Unitree, Zhiyuan, and Fourier showcased their flagship humanoid robots. Unitree's GD01, a manned transformable mecha dubbed the 'real-life Gundam' by netizens, rolled into the exhibition hall, capturing widespread attention.

Step inside, and you're greeted with a surreal scene: an entire automotive production line relocated to the hall, where robotic arms collaborate to build cars under unmanned conditions, welding guns sizzling. Ant Group's smart pharmacy features three robots of different configurations completing a medication dispensing cycle in just 90 seconds. TISHI Zhihang recreated a 1:1 automotive wiring harness assembly line, with robots executing precise 'picking—routing—plugging' sequences.

Rewind a few years, and the magnitude of this transformation becomes even more apparent.

At WAIC 2024, humanoid robots were largely 'static exhibits fixed to stages,' waving and making appearances. The true focus was the industry's first 'Humanoid Robot Governance Guidelines,' with debates centered on 'whether they'd go rogue.'

By WAIC 2025, robots 'came alive.' As Jiang Lei, chief scientist at the National-Local Co-Built Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, put it: 'We've solved walking, running, and jumping for humanoid robots, and Chinese companies drew the final punctuation mark.'

In 2026, robots aren't content with just 'moving'—they're 'clocking in' to build cars, sort packages, dispense drugs, and assemble wiring harnesses.

Three leaps in three years. A clear signal emerges from the exhibition floor: embodied AI is unstoppable.

From Showmanship to Productivity: The Game Has Changed

If previous WAIC editions compared 'who walks steadier or jumps higher,' 2026's litmus test shifted to a simpler, harsher criterion: who builds the most capable working robots.

This isn't rhetoric—it's reality etched into every booth.

Meng Qingxin, senior vice president of NavInfo, captured the year's essence: 'The biggest AI advancement in the past year is robots moving from performances to practical work.'

Evidence of 'productivity' abounds at WAIC 2026: TISHI Zhihang's A1 robot demonstrates precision wiring harness plugging in a simulated factory; Daimeng Robotics' native tactile world model enables autonomous 'fruit packing, pencil case organizing' for extended sequences; Sainad's robots reliably handle logistics loading/unloading, palletizing, and material handling...

Critically, these actions are no longer 'preset programs following fixed trajectories' but are driven by embodied intelligence reasoning and autonomous decision-making in real-world contexts.

This surge in 'working' capabilities is translating directly into lucrative orders.

Chen Tongqing, co-founder of TISHI Zhihang, revealed partnerships with several top automakers, with nearly 100 robots already deployed at client sites and more deliveries planned for the second half.

MIIT officials disclosed a milestone: global humanoid robot shipments hovered around 20,000 units in 2025 but could exceed 100,000 in 2026.

A fivefold increase in a year. The embodied AI industry now faces a 'mass production crucible'—exhibition hype must now withstand factory-floor scrutiny.

Yet, amid the 'can-do' enthusiasm, sober voices emerge.

Zhang Zhengyou, director of Tencent Robotics X Lab, cautions that compared to smartphones, embodied AI's 'iPhone moment' hasn't arrived—'not even the 'brick phone' era yet.'

In his view, robots entering households still require enhanced tactile, force perception, and 3D world cognition capabilities.

From showmanship to productivity, from performance to practicality—embodied AI stands at a critical crossroads. To cross it, the industry must first solve shared challenges.

Three Industrial Threads Behind the Exhibition Booths

Through the competitive lens of 208 companies, WAIC 2026 clearly reflects three converging trends in the embodied AI industry.

Trend 1: Cost Reduction—Robots Priced in the Tens of Thousands Arrive.

Empowered by embodied AI technologies and localized innovation in core components, robots are becoming 'smarter' while 'cheaper.'

Jiang Lei notes that high-end models now cost around 500,000 RMB—'already a steep drop'—with some firms offering products priced in the tens of thousands.

This widening gap between rising intelligence and falling costs embodies China's manufacturing strengths and enables explosive capacity growth.

Trend 2: From 'Cerebellum' to 'Brain'—The Intelligence Hub Becomes the Battleground.

The past two years saw rapid progress in robot hardware (bodies) and motion control ('cerebellum')—'walking is fully solved.' The true bottleneck remains the 'brain' responsible for understanding and decision-making.

Zhu Xing, CEO of Ant Linkbot, represents a consensus: 'Brain progress lags behind the cerebellum.'

At WAIC 2026, the 'brain' emerges as the ultimate prize—nearly all firms deploy large models or VLA (visual-language-action) technologies to grant robots interactive responsiveness, disturbance resistance, and action generalization.

Ant Linkbot's World Action Model, TISHI Zhihang's AWE 3.5 General Embodied Large Model, Daimeng's Native Tactile Physical World Model—the 'brain arms race' has begun.

Experts even predict that as brains evolve, they may 'redefine the cerebellum and body in reverse'—requiring seamless coordination between brain, cerebellum, and limbs ('if you take a step, I follow; if I take a step, you must too').

Trend 3: Data 'Arms Race'—Training Grounds Become Consensus.

If the brain is the core, then 'data' to feed it is the industry's deepest anxiety.

Unlike traditional generative AI relying on text, embodied AI demands strongly multimodal data—integrating not just text but also motion commands, force feedback, ambient lighting, and other physical parameters. Such high-quality real-world data is desperately scarce.

Thus, 'building training grounds and datasets' became firms' shared choice at WAIC 2026. Lian Wenzhao, CEO of Yuanluo Tech, asserts that the past year's biggest robot advancement 'lies not in hardware but in breakthroughs in real-data collection methods and volumes'—'the industry glimpses victory in data breakthroughs.'

Some firms build proprietary training grounds; others tap into automotive, semiconductor, biotech, and public service sectors, leveraging scenario diversity to enrich data diversity—'because diverse data improves training for general embodied large models.'

Cost, brain, data—these three threads intertwine to outline the industrialization path for embodied AI from 'can move' to 'can work.'

Jiang Lei provides a timeline: currently, robots handle centimeter-precision services like unmanned retail and bank guidance; within 3–5 years, they'll achieve millimeter-precision industrial manufacturing; in 5–10 years, they'll master motion control and emotional interaction to enter households.

Unstoppable: More Than Just Robots

Why is embodied AI 'unstoppable'? Because it's propelled by an era-defining force.

Globally, AI is in a historic boom. The AI market surged from $280 billion in 2024 to $757.58 billion in 2025, projected to exceed $900 billion in 2026.

China delivers a standout performance: by 2025, its core AI industry exceeded 1.2 trillion RMB in scale with over 6,200 firms; by 2030, it's expected to surpass 10 trillion RMB.

Embodied AI is AI's vanguard into the physical world. As one practitioner puts it: 'AI's transformative impact on society and economy will surpass the internet—because AI can now enter the physical world via embodied intelligence.'

China holds a rare hand in this race.

Jiang Lei's words bear repeating: Chinese firms drew the final punctuation on walking, running, and jumping—'but for the next competition, especially working capabilities, the world starts on equal footing. We have a chance to define new industry standards.'

This confidence stems from China's unique triple strength: the world's most complete and 'demanding' manufacturing scenarios provide robots with optimal 'training grounds'; a maturing domestic supply chain—from Digua Robot's domestic chips (partnered with 20+ leading firms like UBTECH) to localized core components—drives costs down; and sustained industrial policies from central to local governments.

These forces position China to lead the 'can-work' race on equal footing.

Yet, amid the sprint, calm is indispensable. As early as WAIC 2024, the industry released 'Humanoid Robot Governance Guidelines,' confronting new issues like legal status, ethics, and job displacement.

WAIC 2026 elevates 'governance' to unprecedented heights—the World Artificial Intelligence Cooperation Organization Agreement was signed pre-conference, and the theme 'Intelligent Partners' inherently implies 'global collaboration for inclusive good.' Balancing development and governance ensures the industry's steady, sustainable progress.

Epilogue

Three years ago at WAIC, humanoid robots were mere 'waving ornaments' on stages; today, they operate automotive lines, screw bolts, assemble wiring harnesses, and deliver medications.

From static exhibits to dynamic displays, then to practical work; from laboratory 'pipe dreams' to 'supply-cannot-meet-demand' factory orders—WAIC's screen vividly reflects embodied AI's breakneck trajectory.

It may not yet have its 'iPhone moment,' with hurdles in data, cost, 3D cognition, and supply chain standardization. But the direction is unmistakable: when AI gains a body and enters the physical world, a trillion-dollar new industry is surging forward, driven by technology, capital, policy, and scenarios.

As Zhang Zhengyou firmly predicts—robots in every household 'will happen within my lifetime.'

WAIC 2026 ignites, and China's embodied AI 'army' is truly unstoppable.

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