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Gizmodo
08-08-2025
- Business
- Gizmodo
China Opens ‘Robot Mall,' Its First Mall for Robots
China opened its first full-scale shopping center dedicated entirely to robots on Friday, as part of a broader push to bring robotics from research labs into people's homes. The four-story Robot Mall, located in Beijing's high-tech E-Town district, showcases more than 100 robots from over 40 brands, including Chinese companies like Ubtech Robotics and Unitree Robotics. The store operates like a car dealership, but for robots. It follows the '4S' model common in China, offering sales, service, spare parts, and surveys or opportunities for customers to provide feedback all in one location. 'If robots are to enter thousands of households, relying solely on robotics companies is not enough,' Wang Yifan, a director at the mall, told Reuters. Robots at the new mall start at 2,000 yuan ($278) and go up to several million yuan. A talking humanoid replica of Albert Einstein is going for 700,000 yuan ($97,473). The mall also includes a themed restaurant where robot waiters serve dishes and drinks prepared by robot chefs. Visitors can also watch robots play soccer or Chinese chess, interact with robot dogs, or meet animatronic versions of historical figures like Isaac Newton, Emperor Qin Shi Huang, and the famed Chinese poet Li Bai. The opening of Robot Mall coincides with two major robotics conferences in the city this month. Friday was also the first day of the 2025 World Robot Conference, which runs through August 12. Over the course of the conference, nearly 500 experts from over 20 countries will gather to discuss the latest trends in robotics. Approximately 200 robotics companies will also be present to showcase their latest research and development breakthroughs in over 1,500 exhibits. Just days later, Beijing will host the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games, taking place from August 14 to 17. Humanoid robots will face off in a series of 21 events, testing their skills in everything from athletics, soccer, and dance to handling materials, drug sorting, and other performance-based and scenario-driven challenges. So far, more than 100 teams have registered to compete. All of this is part of China's broader push to win the global robotics race. The country is pouring tons of resources into the sector, including more than $20 billion in subsidies over the past year alone. Beijing is also reportedly planning a one trillion yuan ($137 billion) fund to help support AI and robotics startups, according to Reuters. Some U.S. robotics companies, including Tesla and Boston Dynamics, have already called on lawmakers to develop a national strategy that can compete with China's.
South China Morning Post
08-08-2025
- Automotive
- South China Morning Post
Humanoid haven: China's robot store showcases home-grown products amid government push
China opened what is touted as the world's first full-service store dedicated to humanoid robots during the 2025 World Robot Conference (WRC) in Beijing on Friday, showcasing the latest consumer products and services from some of the nation's leading manufacturers. Inspired by the 4S model used in car dealerships, the Robot Mall in Beijing's E-Town integrates the core functions of sales, service, spare parts and surveys. It features more than 50 products from over 40 brands, including Chinese companies like Unitree Robotics and UBTech Robotics. China's robotics market is projected to grow at an annual rate of 23 per cent, expanding to US$108 billion by 2028 from US$47 billion in 2024 to solidify the country's position as a leader in the industry, according to a Morgan Stanley report in June. The Robot Mall allows consumers to experience live demonstrations of various robots designed for the industrial, medical and other sectors. For example, visitors can watch machines play football or perform a lion dance. Fuelled by government initiatives in humanoid robotics and rapid artificial intelligence advancements, the industry is swiftly moving from the research and development stage to mass production.
Associated Press
07-08-2025
- Business
- Associated Press
Shopping for a robot? China's new robot store in photos
BEIJING (AP) — A high-tech district in the Chinese capital is opening an all-service robot store on Friday to push a national drive to develop humanoid robots. From plucking boxes off a pharmacy shelf to serving drinks from behind a bar, robots at the government-run facility showcase how far humanoid robot development has come — and how far it has to go. The goal is to help robotics companies commercialize what has been largely a research-focused endeavor to date. China has produced eye-catching shows of two-legged robots dancing in sync, but can they be put to practical use? 'With the mass production of humanoid robots, we believe that both enterprises and customers will face pain points,' said Wang Yifan, the director of the Robot Mall in Beijing E-Town, about 40 minutes southeast of downtown by car. Many of the companies have no experience in sales and marketing and there are few opportunities to display their products, he told a pack of journalists at a media preview this week. The four-story facility is dubbed a 4S store, meaning sales, service, spare parts and surveys — or collecting and analyzing customer feedback. It is the first such store in China, though other cities are building them too, Wang said. Besides those performing tasks, the robots on display include ones that play soccer or Chinese chess, as well as historical figures from scientists Albert Einstein and Isaac Newton to Li Bai, considered one of China's greatest poets. Robots, showing perhaps a humanlike tendency, are not infallible. One was designed to recognize and separate trash from dishware returned by customers at a cafe. Its hand picked up a coffee cup and swung to one side but then held the blue-green mug in the air, not putting it down on a tray. A worker intervened to reset the software. ___ This is a photo gallery curated by AP photo editors.
