Xiaomi

Tesla’s much-hyped Optimus robot is now being challenged by Xiaomi’s bipedal robot- CyberOne

Chinese tech company Xiaomi-perhaps best known in the West for ripping off Apple’s designs- has unveiled a prototype bipedal robot: the slick-looking CyberOne. The bot was unveiled last week, and, judging from a brief demo, can do little more than walk across a stage. However, the CyberOne does show us the current state of robot development for a non-specialized company like Xiaomi and offers valuable context as to what we might expect from a, uh, rather similar-looking bipedal bot: Tesla’s much-hyped Optimus robot, due to be unveiled as a prototype later this year on September 30th.

A year ago, the company demonstrated its first bionic quadruped robot, CyberDog “Iron Egg.” However, as you understand, the purpose, features, appearance, and technology of the CyberDog and the CyberOne differ completely. This is a full-size humanoid bionic robot. Thus, it requires more parts, more complicated algorithms that should work in real-time, etc. As for dimensions and weight, the CyberOne is 177 cm tall and weighs only 52 kg. The humanoid robot walks on two legs. So it has the highest level of design difficulty. For humans, it took millions of years before we started working upright. In this regard, the Xiaomi team spent many years investing in research and development, and in effect, they let the CyberOne learn to walk.

Despite the surprise live demo, Lei said that for now, each CyberOne would cost somewhere in the range of 600,000 to 700,000 yuan (about US$89,100 to US$104,000), so it'll be a while before his company deems it suitable for mass production, if ever. Until then, Xiaomi will continue adding new capabilities to its first humanoid robot. "With AI at its core and a full-size humanoid frame as its vessel, this is an exploration of possibilities of Xiaomi's future technological ecosystem and a breakthrough for the company," the exec added. It'll be interesting to see how Elon Musk responds to this lookalike of his big boy, though he's probably a little distracted these days.

The mobile phone maker has shown ambitions well beyond its initial area of interest. Speaking at an event in Beijing, the company’s CEO, Lei Jun, announced that Xiaomi is currently running tests on 140 vehicles across China for autonomous driving. This didn’t take long, considering that the Chinese phone maker only clarified its EV ambitions last year. So far, Xiaomi has dedicated around US$490 million and 500 staff to developing autonomous driving technology.

At the same event, Lei Jun made another threatening move toward Tesla, this time in the humanoid robots field. The 177-cm (5.8-ft) tall CyberOne can walk, talk and use artificial intelligence to figure out the world. While it is merely a work in progress without much use today, CyberOne has the chance to develop into something big.

At the same time, Tesla’s Optimus Bot is still missing in action. However, Elon Musk hopes to have it finished before Tesla AI Day on September 30. Musk thinks the Optimus Bot will be the most important product his company is working on.

The mobile phone maker has shown ambitions well beyond its initial area of interest. Speaking at an event in Beijing, the company Lei Jun announced that Xiaomi is currently running tests on 140 vehicles