Chinese robotics firm Agibot has launched a range of humanoid robots designed to look, move, and sound like human beings in the UK business-to-business (B2B) market.
The Shanghai-based company, founded in 2023 by two former Huawei engineers, hosted a launch event in London on June 30, 2026, with several of its A3 full-sized humanoid and X2 half-size humanoid robots in attendance, as well as current and prospective business partners.
The robots — all controlled by humans with smartphones and DualSense controllers — were deployed at several demo stations in the event space.
One X2 humanoid robot was set up to dance to peppy music, cutting some serious shapes for a constant crowd, while another in a Harry Kane shirt kicked a football into a net. A third wore a suit of (admittedly very cool) Gundam-style armor, demonstrating the robots’ potential for customization.
As for the full-sized A3 humanoid — less expressive than its smaller sibling, with sharper angles and a rather blank circle in place of the X2’s animated ‘eyes’ — a unit was made available to greet guests and for photo opportunities.
In a presentation at the UK launch event, Agibot co-founder and COO Daniel Jiang said: “The robot business is the AI business. Robots should understand you, know what you say, talk to you, and work for you.”
Indeed, at the launch event, the word ‘robot’ was as common as the phrase ‘embodied AI’, as Agibot representatives attempted to position the firm’s product range as a signifier of a new technological era: the ‘fourth industrial revolution.’
In a later talk, co-founder and R&D president Yan Xiong said: “Of the products I’ve worked on, embodied AI is the most exciting and inspiring. Through three intelligences in one body, robots can become human-like.”
The three intelligences in question control interaction, locomotion, and manipulation, powered by on-device AI models that communicate with cloud servers. It seems that Agibot sees itself as an AI company first and foremost, and is allocating its resources in kind: “Our main focus is the research and development of the three intelligences, taking up 75% of our R&D staff, and 80 per cent of our R&D budget.”
That’s not to say that the firm’s humanoid robots aren’t profoundly impressive. The units are made mainly of magnesium alloy, with titanium reinforcements at pressure points to ensure rigidity. The A3 weighs 55kg, which is pretty reasonable when you consider its 5-foot-8-inch (173cm) height, and lasts up to 10 hours on a single charge of its 1152W battery.
In comparison, the 4-foot-3-inch (131cm) X2 weighs 39kg and lasts for two hours. The units communicate with the internet via dual-module, dual-SIM 5G.
Also present were units from Agibot’s D1 quadruped range, inexplicably programmed to do backflips on command, as well as G2-series industrial robots and C5 cleaning robots. The top-tier D1 model, the D1 MaxPro, has a carrying capacity of 50kg, while only weighing 68kg itself.
Agibot is young but quickly increasing its production capacity. It recently rolled out its 15,000th unit, having passed 10,000 units just three months earlier, and has already deployed its G2 industrial robots in China’s Longcheer electronics factory. Indeed, much of the event was dedicated to promoting possible use cases for each model in industries like construction, live entertainment, and the corporate world.
Having shaken hands with the X2 and watched the D1 wave its ‘paw’ and, again, perform several perfect backflips, I have to admit that I’m still stunned by Agibot’s range of robots. The firm’s launch has done nothing to allay my many concerns about AI, but it’s still almost unbelievable to see actual droids walking around.
It’s clear that Agibot wants its robots to be relatable — the dance moves, handshakes, and free kicks are obviously an effort to instill some kind of affection in a crowd of possible customers. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t find the X2 wildly entertaining, even though I know it’s just metal and plastic — but that’s the power of pattern recognition.
If Agibot can make strides towards its professed goal of autonomous operation, then we really aren’t too far away from having a real-life C3PO on our hands.
It’s early days, but the firm’s leadership sounds committed. In his presentation, Yan Xiong said: “Scaling to mass production is the first hurdle to mature the embodied AI industry. After we achieve mass production, the next step is to bring our portfolio to commercial availability.”
“AI should not be confined behind screens,” he later added, “it must be brought into the physical world.”
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jamie.richards@futurenet.com (Jamie Richards)
