Shares in Chinese technology group Xpeng (XPEV) rocketed higher today after it launched the most human of humanoid robots.
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IRON Clad
Unveiled today at the 2025 Xpeng tech day the next-generation IRON humanoid robot, according to the firm, features a bionic “bone–muscle–skin” structure with a flexible spine, synthetic muscles, soft full-body skin, and 22 degrees of freedom in its dexterous hands.
That is a lot of degrees.
In addition, this “most human-like humanoid robot” is said to run on a physical-world foundation model powered by three Turing AI chips, combining advanced vision, language, and locomotion capabilities as part of a multi-brain AI architecture for dialogue, interaction, and movement. Wow.
It is also being hailed as the industry’s first humanoid robot to use a full-solid-state battery and support something every huge robot needs around expensive TV screens, indoor AEB (Automatic Emergency Braking) for enhanced safety. It also introduces a “Fourth Law,” ensuring that users’ private data never leaves the robot.
The company plans to deploy the IRON robot in commercial settings first and aims for mass production by late 2026. It hopes to keep the XPEV share price muscling its way even higher this year – see below:
It would join an ever growing field with Tesla’s (TSLA) Optimus humanoid robot, JD.com’s (JD) family friendly robot and Unitree whose robot is excellent at picking up medals in robot Olympics-style competitions.
Humanoid Race
All are seeking to lead the race in a market which, according to Morgan Stanley (MS), will see the number of robots that resemble and act like humans likely to reach nearly 1 billion by 2050.
It added that the humanoids market could surpass $5 trillion by 2050, including sales from supply chains and networks for repair, maintenance and support.
Xpeng also revealed today that it was teaming up with fellow Chinese tech titan Alibaba’s (BABA) digital mapping arm Amap to launch a robotaxi service. The plan is to roll out three self-developed robotaxi models and start operations in 2026.
Xpeng said that the driverless cars would be integrated into Amap’s platform, which is already cooperating with Chinese robotaxi firms WeRide and Pony.ai.
The intention, Xpeng added, is to take the service global putting further pressure on rivals such as Tesla and Alphabet (GOOGL)-owned Waymo.
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