Street dancing, boxing, working as a waiter... Hundreds of robots showcased their skills at WAIC

On July 26, the world's largest, most professional, and influential top event in the field of artificial intelligence—the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC)—grandly opened in Shanghai, attracting global attention in the AI field to witness this feast of ideas concerning the future of intelligent civilization.

At the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), humanoid robots once again became the absolute focus. At the WAIC exhibition site, over 150 humanoid robots made a concentrated appearance, marking the largest collective display of humanoid robots in China's history.

Last year's WAIC featured 18 humanoid robots lined up to welcome guests, known as the "Eighteen Arhats," which was novel but somewhat monotonous. This year's exhibition, however, has been fully upgraded to a dynamic live show, where robots can not only speak and walk but also punch, brew coffee, assist in rehabilitation, sort materials, and conduct security inspections, truly getting the job done.

This signifies that humanoid robots are no longer satisfied with being "performers" in exhibition halls but are committed to entering real work scenarios such as workshops, supermarkets, hospitals, and homes, becoming true "producers."

A Variety of Skills on Display, Robots No Longer Just Posing

At the exhibition, from demonstrations to practical applications, various manufacturers showcased their cutting-edge technologies.

1. Galaxy General Galbot, Four-Legged Robot Dog

Galaxy General's self-developed robot Galbot earned the title of "Treasure of the Museum" for its all-weather performance, truly achieving the transition from "showing off skills to practicality."

Galbot was on duty in the core exhibition area around the clock, accurately delivering and picking up goods for foreign guests, demonstrating stable and smooth performance. In the automotive factory simulation area, Galbot not only accurately sorted similarly shaped SPS parts but also responded to human interference and quickly self-corrected, showcasing strong recognition and adaptability.

When transporting multiple unlabeled material boxes, Galbot utilized visual recognition and agile motion planning, first creating a gap with one hand and then transporting with both hands, achieving efficiency comparable to human workers, and has begun collaborative testing with ZEEKR's factory.

2. Star Motion Era's Three Star Products (L7, XHAND1, Q5)

Star Motion Era presented three "versatile" embodied intelligent products: the L7 robot that can dance street dance and sort packages, the XHAND1 dexterous hand with "human-level fingers," and the Q5 service robot that can guide, explain, and dance.

The L7 is a full-size bipedal humanoid robot, standing 1.71 meters tall and weighing 65 kilograms. It looks like a "steel muscle man," but its movements are very agile. On-site, it can not only perform 360-degree spins and street dance moves but also handle serious tasks such as grabbing packages and scanning for sorting.

The XHAND1 is a fully direct-drive five-finger dexterous hand, sized and precise like a human hand, capable of remote operation as well as autonomous task execution. It can easily perform delicate tasks such as picking up paper, scanning barcodes, and using tweezers, and even give you a shoulder massage Q5 is a highly anthropomorphic service robot, designed with "44 degrees of freedom + a slim waist" that allows it to move flexibly and naturally. It can provide multiple services such as explanations, guidance, and document delivery at exhibitions and shopping malls, while also easily performing complex actions like dancing and handing over items. Q5 can speak 37 languages, making it suitable for international exhibition scenarios.

3. Yunshen Technology's Robotic Dog

The quadruped robot "Jueying X30" from Yunshen Technology showcases its capabilities in a realistically recreated power inspection scenario, accurately identifying dial instruments, sensing infrared temperature, and automatically returning to charge... This is no longer a conceptual product in a laboratory, but a real "inspector," allowing the audience to intuitively feel the feasibility of quadruped robots replacing humans in high-risk, high-repetition inspection tasks.

Previously, the Lynx series wheeled robots, which went viral on overseas social media, also performed a "skills show" on site. They demonstrated their impressive terrain adaptability and motion control abilities by overcoming a 70cm high platform, performing flips and handstands, and executing Thomas spins, showcasing the flexible advantages of wheeled structures in extreme environments.

4. Qingtong Intelligent XMAN-F1

Qingtong officially launched a new member of the XMAN family of embodied service robots, the bipedal humanoid robot XMAN-F1, which made its global debut at the exhibition.

XMAN-F1 smoothly completed popcorn making and mixed various chilled beverages according to customer preferences, including Sprite, Coca-Cola, and options for ice, showcasing the possibilities of future services with its anthropomorphic movements and precise service processes, demonstrating impressive environmental adaptability and task execution accuracy, becoming a focal point of attention.

5. Lingbao CASBOT 02 and W1

The humanoid robot brand Lingbao CASBOT presented two star products—full-size humanoid robot CASBOT 02 and wheeled robot CASBOT W1.

CASBOT W1 can perform various operational tasks such as material handling, item sorting, and shelf organization, providing practical application solutions for cross-scenario tasks in warehousing, supermarkets, and factory automation.

In contrast to W1's emphasis on execution, CASBOT 02 focuses more on human-robot interaction. CASBOT 02 stood in the center of the exhibition area playing "rock-paper-scissors" with the audience, able to quickly "throw punches" and understand "facial expressions," praising winners and throwing "tantrums" when losing, making it a humanoid robot with "full emotional value."

6. Yushu Technology's Boxing Robot

Yushu Technology's booth remains a "top flow." Yushu Technology brought the boxing ring to the site, attracting many spectators. Yushu's robot performed continuous actions such as punching and kicking in the boxing ring and could autonomously get back up after being knocked down 7. AlphaBot (AiBao) by ZhiPingFang

ZhiPingFang showcased a truly "working" general-purpose robot, AlphaBot (AiBao). Through the end-to-end large model Alpha Brain, it can scoop ice cream, brew coffee, stack items, and drum, completing a series of multi-task skill demonstrations on-site, with the audience exclaiming, "just like a real store clerk."

8. Fourier GR-3 & Rehabilitation Port

Fourier Intelligence introduced its latest humanoid robot, GR-3. Unlike traditional industrial robots, GR-3 emphasizes "human touch." Its exterior is made of soft skin-like material, providing a gentler feel, closer to real skin. Equipped with a full-sensory interaction system, it can recognize touch, voice, and facial expressions, achieving more natural emotional interactions. Aimed at companionship needs in families, elderly care, and healthcare, it is expected to become an "emotional companion" or "smart caregiver" in the future.

Fourier also presented an upgraded version of the "Embodied Intelligent Rehabilitation Port," which builds a comprehensive solution for rehabilitation scenarios around the GRx series robots, covering five major modules: guidance, cognitive training, upper limb training, motor function reconstruction, and remote rehabilitation. It has integrated over 30 rehabilitation robots independently developed by Fourier, covering niche areas such as neurology, orthopedics, and pain management.

Orders and Implementation: Humanoid Robots Entering the Large-Scale Procurement Stage

Morgan Stanley predicts that in the second half of 2025, the humanoid robot industry will transition from a technological boom to a commercial implementation phase, with market sentiment shifting from model capabilities to order and delivery-driven dynamics.

This WAIC is not just a showcase but a collective rehearsal for capital and application implementation. For example, China Mobile made a significant investment with a procurement order amounting to 124 million yuan, ZhiYuan Robotics won a 78 million yuan full-size project bid, and YuShu Technology secured a 46.05 million yuan small-size project bid.

Additionally, the automotive manufacturing scenario is also a key implementation area, with UBTECH ROBOTICS receiving over 500 intention orders from car manufacturers, Leju Robotics delivering 100 units to BAIC, and companies like ZhiPingFang and ZhiYuan Robotics also receiving orders from car manufacturers for applications in material handling, sorting, and assembly.

As Wang Xingxing, founder, CEO, and CTO of YuShu Technology, stated, the humanoid robot industry is growing very rapidly, "I personally feel that the average growth rate of the national intelligent robot industry in the first half of this year could reach 50% to 100%." According to his observations, since last year, at least one new robot has been released every day, and the pace of industry implementation and shipment volume is very fast