Y. Pan | Written by
On September 11, 2025, Shenzhen Huizhi IoT and Zhifang Square announced a strategic cooperation in Shenzhen: over the next three years, more than 1,000 AlphaBot series embodied intelligent robots will be deployed in Huike’s six major global production bases, covering the entire process of PCB operations, loading and unloading, assembly, and quality inspection.
This marks the first time embodied intelligent robots have entered the global semiconductor display production line at a “thousand-unit scale.” In other words, embodied intelligence, which has previously remained in laboratories, exhibitions, and pilot projects, is stepping onto the grand stage of manufacturing for the first time.
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A single order that can rewrite industry perceptions
The official amount has not been disclosed, but based on industry price ranges, the high-end version of AlphaBot 2 is priced at approximately 400,000 to 600,000 yuan, making the total contract amount for this cooperation approximately 450 to 500 million yuan.
For an industry that has just entered its first year of mass production, this large order is considered a “milestone” event:
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It proves that companies are willing to introduce embodied intelligent robots in bulk in real production environments, rather than just conducting concept validation;
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It validates the maturity of capacity, delivery, and operation and maintenance systems, allowing embodied intelligence to truly become a capital expenditure project for enterprises, rather than a trial project within innovation budgets.
This 500 million-level order not only breaks records in the domestic embodied intelligence field but also shows the market a reality: robots are no longer just “good-looking”; they can genuinely help factories calculate their costs.
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Display industry leaders meet large model entrepreneurs
Huike Co., Ltd. is one of the top three global manufacturers of large-size LCD panels, with an annual output value exceeding 80 billion yuan, serving over 100 international brands including Samsung, LG, and HP. In response to fluctuations in panel prices, Huike is fully promoting its Smart Manufacturing 2.0 plan, aiming to improve production line efficiency, reduce labor costs, and increase yield rates.
Zhifang Square is a new player in the industry. Founded in 2023, it focuses on the research and development of general-purpose embodied intelligent robots, completing seven rounds of financing within six months, with a total amount exceeding 1 billion yuan. Technically, it has developed the world’s first comprehensive embodied large model GOVLA, capable of processing complex multimodal information, supporting full-body control and cross-task switching. The AlphaBot 2, launched in April this year, is equipped with dual-arm seven-degree-of-freedom robotic arms and a wheeled chassis, allowing it to navigate narrow production line passages flexibly, achieving a deployment logic of “machines adapting to humans.”
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Making robots true “colleagues on the workstation”
Unlike traditional AGVs or fixed robotic arms, the biggest breakthrough of AlphaBot 2 lies in its “full-body intelligence.” Its GOVLA model adopts a fast-slow collaborative architecture, capable of high-level task planning as well as millisecond-level output of fine actions.
Robots can quickly learn new tasks with 5-10 demonstrations and seamlessly switch between different processes. For example, in the PCB operation phase, it can automatically identify different models of circuit boards and complete precise insertion; in the OLED vacuum lamination phase, it can control the adhesion force within 0.1N precision, avoiding wrinkles and improving yield rates by over 5%.
At the same time, the edge AI model jointly developed by Zhifang Square and Huizhi IoT has been embedded in the production line control system, achieving low-latency decision-making at the 50ms level and optimizing power consumption by 15%. In the display industry, which is characterized by variability, complexity, and long cycles, these capabilities mean lower transformation costs and higher production line flexibility.
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Conclusion: Current Status at Home and Abroad
Overseas Companies
Tesla (Optimus)
Tesla has ambitious plans for its humanoid robot Optimus in 2025, aiming to trial production of 5,000 units within the year and achieve mass production of 100,000 units by 2026. Its advantage lies in the ability to transfer the FSD technology accumulated in the autonomous driving field to the humanoid robot control system, while leveraging vertical integration capabilities of motors, batteries, and other hardware to reduce costs.
Elon Musk has publicly stated that Optimus will become “the greatest product in human history,” hoping it will push Tesla’s overall valuation to 25 trillion dollars.
However, progress has not been smooth, with production still at several hundred units by mid-2025, falling far short of targets, and supply chain and design issues putting pressure on future mass production.
Boston Dynamics (Atlas)
Boston Dynamics, owned by Hyundai Motor Group, continues to adhere to a “high-risk scenario first” technical path, with its flagship product Atlas focusing on extreme environment tasks such as nuclear radiation and disaster rescue. In 2025, the company launched a fully electric version of Atlas, priced at approximately 150,000 dollars, maintaining global leadership in motion smoothness and dynamic control levels.
However, its commercialization process remains relatively slow, lacking large-scale orders, and it plays more of a technical demonstrator role rather than a large-scale commercial one. In the current wave of industry enthusiasm, Boston Dynamics’ approach appears stable but not sufficiently “market-oriented.”
Figure AI (Figure Helix)
Founded just a few years ago, Figure AI has quickly grown into a rising star in humanoid robotics. The company has attracted the attention of major investors and is seeking a new round of financing of up to 1.5 billion dollars in 2025, which, if successful, would value it at 39.5 billion dollars.
Its product, Figure Helix, is aimed at industrial scenarios and has demonstrated automation capabilities in logistics and warehousing, even completing delicate tasks such as folding clothes. Figure has shown its determination to scale manufacturing by establishing a BotQ factory with an annual production capacity of over 10,000 units. Although full commercialization will take time, Figure has become an important variable challenging traditional giants.
Agility Robotics (Digit)
Agility Robotics has chosen a pragmatic route, with its humanoid robot Digit already entering actual warehousing and supply chain operations. In 2025, the company claims to launch the first batch of humanoid robots certified for industrial safety, further breaking application barriers.
Digit has already executed high-intensity tasks in several warehouses, collaborating with automated mobile robots to maintain nearly 100% operational efficiency. Agility is also actively involved in setting industry standards, participating in the formulation of ISO 25875 to provide safety specifications for biped dynamic robots entering the industrial system. Compared to Tesla’s grand vision, Agility focuses more on practical feasibility and market implementation.
Domestic Companies
UBTECH
In 2025, UBTECH achieved a breakthrough in its humanoid robot business, with its Walker S2 becoming the world’s first robot capable of autonomous battery swapping, significantly enhancing continuous operation capabilities. The total contract amount for the year has approached 400 million yuan, including cooperation orders with Xiaomi. The company expects to deliver over several hundred units this year, with annual production capacity planning to exceed 1,000 units.
At the same time, UBTECH, in collaboration with Xiaomi and Beijing Jicheng Electromechanical, has launched the Tian Gong Ultra series for research and education, further improving its ecological layout. UBTECH has not only made breakthroughs in product technology but has also achieved substantial market implementation ahead of others.
Unitree Robotics
Unitree Robotics holds a 70% share of the global market in quadruped robots and is now accelerating its layout in humanoid robots. Its G1 model has gained attention for its outstanding performance in dynamic displays such as boxing.
In 2025, the company plans to go public on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, with an IPO valuation target of approximately 7 billion dollars, highlighting the capital market’s optimism about its prospects. Unitree’s deep cooperation with NVIDIA gives it a first-mover advantage in intelligent control of humanoid robots. With the advancement of its IPO and capacity expansion, Unitree is expected to form a unique dual-line advantage in the global “legged robot” track.
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The humanoid robot market: from “buzz” to “implementation”
2025 is widely regarded as the first year of mass production for embodied intelligence. In recent years, humanoid robots have mostly been stars in technology showcases—Tesla Optimus moving bricks, Unitree B2 playing soccer at exhibitions, UBTECH Walker S making coffee—but there are very few real large-scale implementation scenarios.
Multiple institutions predict that the global humanoid robot market will exceed 3 billion dollars in 2025, with the potential to grow to over 15 billion dollars by 2030, with a compound annual growth rate of about 40%. More aggressive predictions even suggest it could reach 38 billion dollars, with shipments of 1.4 million units by 2035.
This growth curve is driven by a combination of cost reductions, capacity releases, and industry confidence.
First, mass production factories have been established.
Agility Robotics has established the RoboFab factory in the United States, with a designed capacity of 10,000 units per year. The first batch of Digit robots has already entered Amazon warehouses for tasks such as handling, storage, and turnover, emphasizing safety and rhythm coordination.
Second, pilot projects are beginning to expand to hundreds of units.
Apptronik’s Apollo has collaborated with Mercedes and Jabil, running on real production lines; domestic UBTECH has also announced securing a 250 million yuan order, entering the batch delivery cycle for industrial and public services, while other manufacturers like Unitree and Fourier are disclosing significant annual delivery increases.
Finally, the upstream ecosystem is taking shape.NVIDIA has released the Isaac GR00T foundational model and complete toolchain for humanoid robots, reducing the R&D threshold and allowing more companies to prototype and iterate at lower costs.
Who is leading the trend?
Leading companies’ strategies are gradually converging: first conquering warehousing and manufacturing processes, then gradually entering light assembly and collaborative positions.
Warehousing handling, loading and unloading, and inspection are the first scenarios to be scaled, as they have clear rhythms, controllable paths, and layered requirements for dexterity. Pilot projects in Mercedes factories and Amazon warehouses are typical representatives, and many domestic factories are beginning to replicate similar ideas.
However, most humanoid robots still partially rely on “human-in-the-loop” control, and fully autonomous operations require more validation in terms of safety and stability. The industry generally expects that after 2026, with the iteration of algorithms and sensors, reliability will reach commercially viable levels.
Currently, high-end models are priced at around 400,000 to 600,000 yuan. Calculating based on replacing 1-1.5 human workstations, combined with yield and rhythm improvements, some projects can compress ROI to 18-24 months, but large-scale promotion still needs to solve three key issues:
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Reducing manufacturing and maintenance costs— standardizing components, improving manufacturability, and expanding maintenance networks;
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Increasing software reuse rates— applying the same body across tasks and processes to reduce long-tail development costs;
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Compliance and safety approvals— establishing standards for speed and force control in human-robot collaboration, and clarifying data privacy boundaries.
Only when these three curves decline simultaneously can enterprises transition from the “demonstration line” to the “popularization line.”
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Conclusion
The cooperation between Huike and Zhifang Square is an important milestone in the large-scale implementation of embodied intelligence. The simultaneous entry of 1,000 robots into real production environments is not only a 500 million-level large order but also a verification experiment regarding “new quality productivity.”
If this deployment can demonstrate ROI, we may see more display, automotive, electronics, and pharmaceutical companies follow suit, incorporating embodied intelligence into standard capacity planning. At that time, the “colleagues” in factories will not only be humans and robotic arms but also a group of robots that can walk, see, and learn.
The path from “machines replacing humans” to “machines adapting to humans” has already been paved. Moving forward, those who can first establish profitable models and reduce cost curves will gain more voice in this industrial transformation.
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