Smartphone maker Honor joins robotics race after pledging US$10 billion AI investment
Chinese smartphone maker Honor has joined the country's heated race to develop robots, as it aims to reposition itself as an artificial intelligence (AI) player amid heightened competition in the Android handset market.
Honor said on Wednesday that it would develop its own robots, and that it had already helped Chinese start-up Unitree Robotics break the record for running speed by a humanoid robot.
The Shenzhen-based firm, a spin-off from telecommunications giant Huawei Technologies, said that its robotics efforts would include working with partners 'to enable more possibilities'.
Honor's intended foray into China's
crowded robotics space comes after its newly appointed CEO James Li Jian announced a
high-profile AI initiative earlier this year that he called the 'Honor Alpha plan'.
The plan will see the firm invest US$10 billion over the next five years to transform itself from a smartphone maker into 'an ecosystem company' focused on AI devices, Li said ahead of the MWC Barcelona trade show in Spain in March.
Honor used its proprietary AI algorithm to train a robot from Chinese start-up Unitree. The machine achieved a peak running speed of 4-metres per second, breaking the record for humanoid robots, the company said on Wednesday at a launch event in Shenzhen for its new Honor 400 series handsets.
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