Inside China’s race to dominate humanoid robotics industry

A bionic face prototype at X-Humanoid in Beijing.Ignacio Torres / NBC NewsArtificial intelligenceInside China’s race to dominate humanoid robotics industryBeijing has put robotics front and center of its national agenda as the tech race with Washington heats up in several key areas, including AI. Listen to this article with a free account00:0000:00ShareAdd NBC News to GoogleMay 15, 2026, 11:20 AM EDTBy Tom Llamas, Dawn Liu and Mithil AggarwalBEIJING — The exposed plastic and aluminum has kept even the most human-like robots feeling unmistakably artificial.Subscribe to read this story ad-free Get unlimited access to ad-free articles and exclusive content.But X-Humanoid in Beijing is hoping that will change soon, as it gave NBC News a tour Thursday around its sprawling facility where it showed off a bionic face prototype, complete with hair and artificial skin.“If the robots look more like humans, they can do a lot of stuff that humans can do,” said Nikita Gao, who handles the overseas market for the company.Chinese robotics has advanced at a breathtaking pace as the tech race between the United States and China heats up in several key areas, including AI. Beijing has put the industry front and center of its national agenda, with its latest five-year plan vowing to “target the frontiers of science and technology.”Add NBC News to GoogleInside China’s race to dominate humanoid robotics industry02:51Humanoid robots are a big part of it, and Beijing is hoping that they can help take care of its rapidly aging population.Just last year, robots in Beijing stumbled through a marathon with only six managing to cross the finish line in an almost comedic performance. But this year, more than a hundred robots took to the streets for the same race, and the winner blazed through the 13-mile course in just over 50 minutes, even surpassing the human world record for a half-marathon by seven minutes, set by Ugandan long-distance runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon earlier this year.More fr...