2026 recorded a leap forward for China's embodied AI industry when Q1 exports increased by 210% compared to the same period last year. A report from market research organization SAG said that Chinese manufacturers currently account for over 97% of global shipments.
Faced with the situation that the domestic market is too crowded with more than 140 businesses and hundreds of product models, many technology companies are forced to find ways to international markets to access markets with selling prices 2 to 4 times higher.
Despite possessing a superior hardware supply chain, Chinese manufacturers are facing a major risk of imbalance. According to International Data Group, more than 85% of exported products currently only stop at performing, entertainment or serving research at universities and research institutes abroad. Human-shaped robots have not yet been able to deeply integrate into industrial production lines due to limited environmental adaptation capabilities and a lack of practical training data for the AI "brain".
To train universal models, the industry needs 10 million hours of physical interaction data, while valid global data sources currently only reach about 500,000 hours. In addition, dependence on foreign simulation platforms also slows down the progress of mastering core technology.
Besides the technical problem, legal barriers and local after-sales services are becoming a life-and-death test. Achieving a strict safety certificate like CE in Europe takes a lot of time and costs, not to mention the strict regulations on newly issued cybersecurity.
Experts believe that to truly compete globally, Chinese businesses are forced to shift from "selling testing equipment" to providing practical productivity solutions and building on-site warranty and operation systems for customers.
