China - February 19, 2025 Humanoid robot industry charges ahead in China's tech hub Shenzhen (Voice_over) Catching a tennis ball... popping open a soda... even doing backflips. What once seemed like science fiction is now becoming reality. Here in Shenzhen, China’s tech hub, the humanoid robotics industry is booming. (Stand_up) Dai Kaiyi, Reporter: "PM 01 here can do all sorts of stuff, we just asked it for a favor, to film a footage for us, and it said yes." (Voice_over) Of course, it didn’t actually make that decision—its designer did. To understand more, I visited the company behind it. ‪Its chief marketing officer told me, achieving the model’s natural walking gait was no easy task.‬‬‬‬ (Sound_bite) Yao Aiwen, Chief marketing officer, Shenzhen EngineAI Robotics Technology: "We use end to end neural network skills and we use a deep reinforcement learning system. In stage one, when we design robotics, then we leverage everything that we need from the joint side and also from the motion side. Then they can come first together, much more easier." (Stand_up) Dai Kaiyi, Reporter: "When I give it a little nudge, it doesn’t lose balance or fall over. It instantly knows what happened and quickly adjusts itself. The staff here told me it’s a subconscious reaction." (Voice_over) That quick response is thanks to balance algorithms and cutting-edge hardware design. And by making their technology open-source, the company believes they can speed up progress by getting more players involved. (Sound_bite) Yao Aiwen, Chief marketing officer, Shenzhen EngineAI Robotics Technology: "The SE 01 from day one that we launched that we tell everybody this is open source from the learning process, from the deep reinforcement learning coding, and also from the deployment coding. The reason why behind is we wanna to lower cost for all the institution and university. For EngineAI, we wanted to open the fundamental coding for their future development use." (Voice_over) These humanoid robots have made huge leaps in just a few years, thanks to AI-driven growth. There are also the challenges of securing capital and top engineering talent to stay ahead in this high-stakes race. (Sound_bite) Cao Zhongxiong, Assistant president, China Development Institute: "After ChatGPT, humanoid robots are the next big breakthrough. They’re already integrating into small-scale production and daily life. But key challenges remain—like solving core algorithms and improving critical components. Those are the bottlenecks we need to break through." (Voice_over) A solid start, companies like EngineAI says much of its success at the moment comes from Shenzhen’s thriving tech ecosystem. Here, some of the world’s biggest tech firms are just blocks away, making it easy to team up and get things done fast. That proximity also helps cut down on research and development costs—a key advantage in such a competitive field. (Sound_bite) Cao Zhongxiong, Assistant president, China Development Institute: "Shenzhen and the Greater Bay Area are leading China’s humanoid robotics industry—and making a global impact. In some ways, we’re even ahead of the world. A strong supply chain fuels constant innovation, while diverse application scenarios drive real-world adoption. The future of humanoid robots could be shaped right here." [Restriction: No access Chinese mainland]