Human Talent Continues to Outpace Chinese Humanoid Progress

Chinese consumer electronics giant Xiaomi unveiled its humanoid robot at the World Humanoid Conference in Beijing in August 2026.

Evelyn Cheng | CNBC

BEIJING — Humanoid robots still face significant hurdles in delivering reliable performance, industry experts said at the World Robot Conference in Beijing this week.

Robots have yet to match human efficiency and require considerable time to acquire new tasks, creating a bottleneck for the sector, said Unitree founder Wang Xingxing during his conference remarks one day after the company’s 460% IPO‑day surge. His comments highlighted the difficulties of integrating humanoids into the workforce. Unitree shares fell 18.7% on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission added foreign‑made advanced robotic devices, including humanoids, to an import‑restriction list last month. The statement did not name a specific country and allowed retailers to continue importing previously approved models.

However, the restriction’s immediate impact is minimal because few humanoids are currently deployed in the U.S., according to Jeff Burnstein, president of the Association for Advancing Automation, speaking with CNBC.

“The restriction could affect autonomous mobile robots used in factories more than humanoids,” he added.

The current state of robotics means companies seeking efficiency gains are not yet prioritizing humanoid solutions.

“Customers in the U.S. are focused on practical solutions rather than the robot type,” Burnstein said. “They need a remedy for a specific problem, whether it’s a humanoid, a conventional robot, or even a non‑robot solution.”

Humanoid developers therefore bear the responsibility to demonstrate viable, affordable, safe, and ready‑to‑use solutions, he said.

Keenon, a startup, designs humanoids to work alongside basic delivery bots for tasks such as hotel laundry services. The company’s partners include Buffalo Wild Wings and Hilton, said COO Wan Bin.

Achieving 50% or even 80% task completion is comparatively straightforward, but reaching a 99.9% success rate truly challenges engineering and training capabilities, Wan noted.

The company has already shipped over 100,000 units and anticipates surpassing 150,000 by the end of next year.

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