Jack Ma-backed Ant Group Co. showcased its first humanoid robot on Thursday, formally joining an intensifying effort by Chinese companies to compete with the US in commercializing a frontier technology.
The company’s unit Shanghai Ant Lingbo Technology Co., also known as Robbyant, demonstrated its R1 humanoid model at the 2025 Inclusion Conference on the Bund in Shanghai. The robot can serve as a tour guide, sort medicine at pharmacies, provide medical consultation or perform basic kitchen tasks. Ant is the latest big name to delve into humanoid robots, a nascent field fought over by the likes of Tesla Inc. and dotted by up-and-comers like Hangzhou neighbor Unitree Robotics. China, which already has a higher density of robots per human on its factory floors than the US and Japan, is preparing humanoids to move into increasingly complex roles. Unlike other companies that focus on hardware development, Ant is honing in on developing brains for robots. Ant views humanoids as a strategic gateway to popularizing AI chatbots and assistants, betting that large AI models — still in the early stages of transforming society — will soon reshape how humans interact with machines, according to Zhu Xing, chief executive officer of Robbyant.

Full report : Ant Group unit Robbyant showcases its first LLM-powered humanoid robot, the R1, at a conference in Shanghai, joining an intensifying effort by Chinese companies.