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South China Morning Post

Chinese venture capital veteran Allen Zhu questions humanoid robots' commercial value

Chinese venture capitalist Allen Zhu Xiaohu publicly questioned the commercial viability of humanoid robots while revealing that his fund had exited several investments in the sector, sparking a heated debate in the country's robotics community amid surging interest in artificial intelligence (AI)-powered machines. Advertisement While the concept of embodied AI – the application of AI in physical systems equipped with sensors – had been gaining traction, its commercial path remained uncertain, in particular for humanoid robots, said Zhu, managing director at GSR Ventures, in an interview with consultancy ChinaVenture published last week. GSR Ventures invested in some early-stage embodied AI companies but has been withdrawing from these investments over the past few months, according to Zhu. 'I often joke that nowadays, every humanoid robot can do somersaults , but where is the commercialisation?' Zhu said. 'This has become a space that early-stage venture capitalists like us want to avoid.' 01:44 Beijing hosts World Robot Conference as China eyes expanding humanoid robot market Beijing hosts World Robot Conference as China eyes expanding humanoid robot market Known for his early investments in Chinese internet companies, including ride-hailing platform Didi Chuxing and social media platform RedNote , Zhu has been relatively restrained when it comes to funding AI start-ups. Advertisement