EX-Robots, a company in Dalian, China, has recently presented a humanoid robot “Xiao Qi” . It can answer questions posed by humans, can change the shape of its mouth and show facial expressions and body movements based on the content of the conversation. Mass production of Xiao Qi has started in May 2024, with a goal of 400 – 500 units in 2024. The main clients are listed companies with chain stores and exhibition halls where Xiao Qi is handling reception duties. The company offers also custom-made robots resembling any human model.

According to Li Boyang, president of EX-Robots, a large number of humanoid robot applications will emerge in the next two years. Applications for the business market will appear first, before mass application in the consumer market follow later. Once humanoid robots have become widespread in ordinary households, the market demand will be extremely large, greater than the automobile market. Currently, the price of Ex-Robots’ mass-produced humanoid robots is around 700,000 to 800,000 ¥ (90,000 to 100,000 €). A custom-made version resembling a human model costs about 1.5 million to 2 million ¥ (200,000 – 250,000 €). Once robots become an important hardware device in the home, the price should be comparable to that of a new energy vehicle.

Humanoid robots have recently shown a dramatic development due to artificial intelligence (AI) and large-scale language models. They are also equipped with machine learning and computer vision.