Now our intrepid China reporter, Caiwei Chen, has identified a brand new trend unfolding inside China’s tech scene: Corporations that were dominant in electric vehicles are betting big on translating that success into developing humanoid robots. I spoke together with her about what she discovered and what it would mean for Trump’s policies and the remainder of the globe.
James: Before we discuss robots, let’s discuss DeepSeek. The frenzy for the AI model peaked a few weeks ago. What are you hearing from other Chinese AI firms? How are they reacting?
Caiwei: I believe other Chinese AI firms are scrambling to determine why they haven’t built a model as strong as DeepSeek’s, despite getting access to as much funding and resources. DeepSeek’s success has sparked self-reflection on management styles and renewed confidence in China’s engineering talent. There’s also strong enthusiasm for constructing various applications on top of DeepSeek’s models.
Your story looks at electric-vehicle makers in China which might be beginning to work on humanoid robots, but I would like to ask a few crazy stat. In China, 53% of vehicles sold are either electric or hybrid, compared with 8% within the US. What explains that?
Price is a large factor—there are countless EV brands competing at different price points, making them each inexpensive and high-quality. Government incentives also play an enormous role. In Beijing, for instance, trading in an old automobile for an EV gets you 10,000 RMB (about $1,500), and that subsidy was recently doubled. Plus, finding public charging and battery-swapping infrastructure is far less of a hassle than within the US.
You open your story noting that China’s recent Latest 12 months Gala, watched by billions of individuals, featured a forged of humanoid robots, dancing and twirling handkerchiefs. We’ve covered how sometimes humanoid videos could be misleading. What did you think that?
I might say I used to be relatively impressed—the robots showed good agility and synchronization with the music, though their movements were simpler than human dancers’. The one trick that’s imagined to impress probably the most is the part where they twirl the handkerchief with one finger, toss it into the air, after which catch it perfectly. That is the signature of the Yangko dance, and having performed it once as a toddler, I can attest to how difficult the trick is even for a human! There was some skepticism on the Chinese web about how this was achieved and whether or not they used additional reinforcement like a magnet or a string to secure the handkerchief, and after watching the clip too repeatedly, I are inclined to agree.
