China’s Robot Olympics Got Laughs but the Stakes Are Serious

Like most People, I get pumped for the Olympics.

Subsequent yr, I’m hoping my younger daughters may have sufficient of an consideration span to look at the Winter Video games with me and my spouse.

And I’m actually trying ahead to the 2028 Summer time Video games returning to the U.S. for the primary time in three a long time.

Earlier this month, Beijing hosted an Olympics-like occasion that was the primary of its variety.

Competitions at this occasion ranged from soccer to medicine-sorting. In addition they included observe and subject occasions just like the lengthy soar and working.

However as an alternative of people lining as much as begin the races, there have been humanoid robots.

That’s as a result of this occasion was China’s first-ever World Humanoid Robotic Video games. And it was a sight to behold.

Through the preliminary spherical of the 100-meter sprint, the beginning gun fired…

And inside seconds, a number of robots stumbled round as in the event that they’d had an excessive amount of to drink.

if you happen to’ve seen any of the footage, it regarded extra like slapstick comedy than cutting-edge expertise.

However Beijing isn’t joking round. It’s lifeless severe about investing billions to make robots as central to its economic system as semiconductors and EVs.

And every medal ceremony on the World Humanoid Robotic Video games was a reminder of the dimensions of China’s ambitions…

The Race to a Robotic Future

This yr alone, Beijing has poured $20 billion in subsidies into robotics.

It’s additionally planning a 1 trillion yuan fund — about $137 billion — to speed up manufacturing and analysis on this subject.

China doesn’t wish to repeat the errors that led to its dependence on international semiconductors. So it has made robotics a nationwide precedence on par with chips and electrical autos.

And though their robots won’t be swish but, China is betting large that they’ll be indispensable.

In the meantime, right here within the U.S., robots aren’t working races… but.

However they are clocking in.

Stroll via the halls of St. Anthony’s Hospital in Florida, and also you’ll see two robots named Beaker and Hygeia gliding previous sufferers.

The work they do is mundane, but it surely’s vitally necessary. They transfer lab samples and pharmacy objects all through the hospital.

Since January, Beaker and Hygeia have eradicated greater than 1,100 miles of strolling for nurses. That’s hundreds of employees hours redirected from pushing carts to direct affected person care.

And at hospitals throughout the nation, Diligent Robotics’ Moxi robotic helps in comparable methods.

Supply: Diligent Robotics

Over the previous two years, Moxi has accomplished multiple million deliveries and saved employees 600,000 hours of strolling.

In different phrases, these machines release expert employees to do the work that solely people can do.

And healthcare isn’t the one business benefiting from robotics right here within the U.S.

In quick meals kitchens, Miso Robotics’ Flippy is whipping up batches of French fries at Jack within the Field and White Citadel.

Supply: Miso Robotics

In the meantime, Chipotle is rolling out its Autocado robotic to peel and slice avocados.

Supply: Chipotle

Which may look like a easy process, but it surely’s some of the time-consuming jobs on the prep line.

And, like Flippy, the Autocado reduces labor prices whereas holding meals flowing throughout peak hours.

Exterior the kitchen, Serve Robotics is revolutionizing last-mile supply.

In Los Angeles, its autonomous sidewalk bots are already bringing Little Caesars pizzas straight to clients.

Supply: Serve Robotics

The corporate expects greater than 2,000 items on U.S. streets by year-end, with expansions underway in Atlanta, Dallas and Miami.

And on the highways of West Texas, Kodiak Robotics’ driverless semis are hauling sand for Atlas Power Options at this very second.

As of mid‑2025, 4 of those vans have already logged greater than 800 hundreds and 1,600 autonomous hours driving throughout the Permian Basin. They function 24/7 with no driver within the cab, solely pausing from time to time for upkeep or gasoline.

Atlas plans to increase to 100 vans within the coming years.

That is what robotics appears to be like like in the true world as we speak. Even if you happen to hardly ever discover them, they’re quietly reshaping the economic system.

And humanoid robots, like those on the World Humanoid Robotic Video games, may quickly be the fastest-growing section of robotics.

Final yr, Goldman Sachs predicted that human-like robots might be value a whopping $38 billion by 2035.

Whereas Morgan Stanley Analysis estimates the variety of humanoid robots is more likely to attain practically 1 billion by 2050.

Together with the associated provide chain, in addition to upkeep and restore networks, this might add as much as a $5 trillion market within the subsequent quarter century.

That’s twice the scale of the auto business.

But it might be a conservative estimate. In spite of everything, Elon Musk is on report that there might be not less than 10 billion humanoid robots in existence by 2040, every priced between $20,000 and $25,000.

However how can U.S. robotics firms as we speak compete towards Beijing’s huge subsidies?

In spite of everything, the federal authorities isn’t more likely to write a $100 billion examine to assist construct a fleet of robots. Particularly since enhancing the nation’s infrastructure is much extra necessary to the way forward for the U.S.

That’s the place American ingenuity is available in.

Nvidia has turn into the toolmaker for the robotics world. Its chips and software program energy all the pieces from warehouse bots to hospital couriers.

Immediately, greater than two million builders use Nvidia’s robotics platform to design, check and prepare robots earlier than they ever hit the manufacturing facility ground.

And the corporate simply launched Jetson Thor, a brand new sort of chip constructed particularly for humanoid robots. It offers robots the flexibility to course of imaginative and prescient, motion and decision-making in actual time.

For U.S. startups that aren’t getting a penny in subsidies, Jetson Thor is like handing them the keys to a supercomputer that matches within the palm of a hand.

There’s additionally the open-source ROS2 framework.

This software program lets robots from completely different firms share intelligence and coordinate duties.

Think about a warehouse the place if one robotic goes down, others routinely reroute to cowl its workload. That’s the flexibleness and resiliency that ROS2 provides, and it’s and it’s free for anybody to make use of.

But, neither of those examples will seize headlines like a robotic collapsing on a observe in Beijing.

Right here’s My Take

The footage popping out of Beijing may appear to be comedy. In spite of everything, many humanoid robots are nonetheless clumsy.

However I bear in mind when cellphones had been the scale of bricks, when PCs had been cumbersome and unreliable and when dial-up was thought of cutting-edge.

Know-how is shifting at mild pace today.

And inside the subsequent decade, humanoid robots might be stocking cabinets, cooking meals and driving vans so seamlessly that they gained’t be information anymore.

That’s why I wrote up a particular pressing report for members of Strategic Fortunes with my #1 backdoor funding into this upcoming megatrend.

In the event you’re not a member, click on right here now to seek out out extra.

We even have some unbelievable robotics performs in our Excessive Fortunes mannequin portfolio. As a result of I’m extraordinarily bullish on this sector.

And I’m particularly trying ahead to the robotic that may fold laundry and empty the dishwasher.

Earlier than we all know it, robots will simply be a part of the economic system, as pure as smartphones are as we speak.

And that seamless adoptions might be an excellent factor…

As a result of we don’t need China to have the final chortle within the robotic race.

Regards,

Ian King
Chief Strategist, Banyan Hill Publishing

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