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… XbotPark incubator along with Li Zexiang and Gan Jie, Gao had early stakes in DJI and many other hardware successes.
When Li met him, he found a smiling old man, not the stern academic he had imagined. “Professor Gao has all these whimsical ideas and a great sense of humor,” Li said. Gao’s WeChat bio reads in Cantonese simply as “the most important thing is to have fun.”
After an hour’s conversation, Li thought he might secure RMB 1–2 million (USD 140,000–280,000). Instead, Gao immediately offered USD 1 million, telling Li: “Write up an agreement and I’ll sign it.” No due diligence, no back-and-forth. The money arrived within a month.
“Maybe there really are people in this world who don’t care about money, they just care about passion,” Li said.
Two years later, Haivivi was considered an easy fundraising case. But Li never forgot the day Gao saved his company: “Without him, we’d be dead.”
Ten years ago, such chances were rare. Investors widely believed hardware was like gambling: high cost, high risk, low return. “Why not put the money in internet companies instead?” one fund partner asked a colleague in 2015.
It was only idealists, like the professors at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), who put money behind young founders. In 2014, they launched XbotPark in Songshan Lake, investing just a few million RMB per project, enough to help a company build a prototype without dying early. DJI, Narwal, Liberlive, Agilex Robotics, and ePropulsion all passed through its doors.
Narwal nearly didn’t make it. Founder Zhang Junbin was just 26, dismissed as a naïve student. “You’re just a kid, what do you know about supply chains?” one investor scoffed. Others compared him unfavorably to rivals Ecovacs and Roborock.
When Narwal first tried to raise funds, investors demanded aggressive financial guarantees. In the end, Li Zexiang and his fellow professors invested their own money to keep it alive. In 2019, Narwal launched its J1 mop-and-vacuum robot, which sold RMB 20 million (USD 2.8 million) in its first year. Soon, self-cleaning mops became an industry standard feature.
By 2020, Narwal was too valuable for early-stage funds to afford. In five years, it raised eight rounds, pulling in backers like Tencent and ByteDance, with its valuation surpassing RMB 10 billion (USD 1.4 billion).
whereRelatedArticle
The successes of Anker, Insta360, and others gradually changed investor attitudes. “This year is a mini spring for hardware. It’s reviving the whole market,” one investor told 36Kr.
Competition for deals has reached internet-era frenzy. One lawn mower startup raised three rounds in six months, totaling over RMB 100 million. Another leading hardware firm had investors lining up without even holding a roadshow.
Behind today’s prosperity lies a decade of hardship, one many firms would not have survived without their early backers. As Li Zexiang once put it:
<blockquote>“Walking down a dark road alone is frightening. But with a few companions, a flashlight, and a stick to ward off dogs, it’s not so bad.”</blockquote>
Now, the road is crowded with fellow travelers.
Eighty years ago, in postwar Japan, Sony co-founder Akio Morita declared his ambition to overturn the world’s perception of “Made in Japan” as cheap and shoddy. Today, DJI’s Wang voices a similar determination:
<blockquote>“I’m tired of being a second-class citizen in culture, values, and products. I look forward to the day when the US bows to our products.”</blockquote>
That conviction, spanning time and borders, is alive again in a new generation of Chinese entrepreneurs. With the support of world-class supply chains, investors who still believe in ideals, and vast global markets, their stage has never been bigger.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3470301182891396">article</a> was written by Yuan Silai for 36Kr.

After DJI, China’s founders find faith and ambition to drive the next wave of global hardware giants

East Asia

China

… battery life, and high maintenance costs.
Apollo delivers up to five hours of operation, or four hours under a full payload of 20 kilograms. It can traverse unstructured environments such as staircases or rubble fields, bridging gaps left by wheeled or tracked systems. The robot supports over 140 kilograms when stationary and more than 40 kilograms while walking, and it remains operational in extremely low temperatures. Its modular design simplifies maintenance, reduces downtime, and aligns with industrial demands for cost efficiency and reliability.
<figure id="attachment_157785" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157785" style="width: 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157785" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo.jpg" alt="Image of the Apollo quadruped robot." width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Apollo-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157785" class="wp-caption-text">Image of the Apollo quadruped robot. Image source: Mirror Me.</figcaption></figure>
Meanwhile, balancing speed and stability has long been a technical hurdle in high-mobility legged robotics. Black Panther 2.0, which broke Boston Dynamics’ longstanding record, is now being tested for use in specialized operations and emergency response.
<figure id="attachment_157786" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157786" style="width: 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157786" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0.jpg" alt="Image of the Black Panther 2.0 robot." width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Mirror-Me-Black-Panther-2.0-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157786" class="wp-caption-text">Image of the Black Panther 2.0 robot. Image source: Mirror Me.</figcaption></figure>
According to 36Kr, Mirror Me is also pursuing a project that aims to surpass human motion and manipulation capabilities within three years. Initial applications are planned for hazardous environments, followed by industrial and household settings.
While industrial clients face lengthy procurement cycles and strict certification requirements, the consumer market emphasizes affordability and clear functionality. Globally, most firms remain focused on lab demonstrations and pilot projects. In contrast, Chinese robotics companies have seemingly expanded their focus, targeting industrial and consumer markets simultaneously to accelerate commercialization and achieve scale.
“Speed can be achieved in months,” Wang said. “But entering factories and homes requires stable products, manageable costs, and a mature supply chain.” He added that China’s strength lies in its manufacturing ecosystem and engineering talent, but cautioned that the industry should avoid overstating short-term progress.
<h3>Investor perspective</h3>
According to Ivy Capital, the embodied intelligence industry remains in its early stages, offering significant investment potential. As in the automotive industry, robot manufacturers are expected to capture the most value, supported by China’s robust supply chain and engineering talent.
Ivy Capital cited five reasons for investing in Mirror Me:
<ol>
<li aria-level="1">A forward design methodology using proprietary differentiable simulation software to identify optimal configurations under complex constraints.</li>
<li aria-level="1">In-house development of high-performance components such as integrated joints and dexterous hands.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Continuous model training through imitation and reinforcement learning based on extensive human and animal motion data.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Automotive-grade product reliability, which has already generated a significant volume of commercial orders.</li>
<li aria-level="1">Strong academic foundations at Zhejiang University, combined with the founder’s decade of technical expertise.</li>
</ol>
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3471946984724102">article</a> was written by Huang Nan for 36Kr.

After breaking Boston Dynamics’ record, China’s Mirror Me targets new frontiers in robotics

Deep Tech

Embodied Intelligence

… he added.
As the AI glasses race heats up, US and China players will eventually come head to head in the global market. How good their fundamental AI models are could be the deciding factor in who emerges on top.
Chinese players have a number of advantages on their side. The tech supply chain in their country may help domestic smart-glasses makers to beat their competitors in cost and efficiency, similar to how smartphone makers like <a href="/company/huawei">Huawei</a>, <a href="/company/xiaomi">Xiaomi</a>, and <a href="/company/oppo">Oppo</a> are quickly catching up to Apple in terms of global market share.
"Chinese players benefit from a massive domestic user base and superapp ecosystems, such as WeChat and Douyin, that drive everyday use cases, along with a strong hardware supply chain and cost efficiency, giving them an edge in rapid iteration and competitive pricing," Tang said.
Meanwhile, US tech giants "have greater financial resources to invest in AI and software R&amp;D, excel in hardware-software integration, and enjoy globally recognized consumer brands," Tang added.
While <a href="/company/deepseek">DeepSeek</a> and other models in China are rapidly reaching parity with US rivals in performance, Chinese makers of AI glasses can not win over the global market "without good English language models, and that's going to be the stopping point for the Chinese OEMs (original equipment manufacturers)," said O'Donnell at Technalysis.
Guan at Rokid disagrees.
The company is planning to launch its first AI glasses in the US in November with a price tag of USD 599. This global version will be supported by both Alibaba and GPT models.
"Users can choose which AI models they want to use, it's not an issue," Guan said.
Despite the potential AI glasses hold, analysts and industry participants said wearable devices are unlikely to replace smartphones in the foreseeable future, given constraints in computing power and on-device AI processing, as well as challenges in heat dissipation and battery life, all while needing to keep the product lightweight and compact.
"Everyone wants a JARVIS, the all-mighty AI assistant to Iron Man, but there is only so much a pair of glasses can do now given how limited the space we can work with [is]," Guan said.
As Meta's botched live demo showed, it could be years before AI glasses and similar products become as mature a product as smartphones are today and adopted by the masses.
"It's getting interesting, but it's still not there yet," O'Donnell said.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/technology/tech-asia/are-ai-glasses-the-next-smartphone-race-between-the-us-and-china">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

Are AI glasses the next smartphone race between the US and China?

Artificial Intelligence

Consumer Economy

… Aridge transitions from demonstration flights to commercial operations.

Xpeng AeroHT rebrands as Aridge, completes first manned eVTOL flight in Dubai

Xpeng Motors

Transportation

Electric Vehicles

Mobility

eVTOL Aircraft

Middle East

… a challenge. Citing internal sources at Foxconn, <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/foxconn-looks-to-indiaand-beyond-chinafor-iphone-assembly-11548151273">The Wall Street Journal</a> reported in 2019 that India’s roads, ports, and other facilities still lag behind China’s, and that local workers are not yet equipped to produce high-end OLED modules.
Tariff uncertainty adds further complexity. During Apple’s Q3 2025 earnings call, Cook noted that most Apple products fall under <a href="https://www.congress.gov/crs-product/IF13006">Section 232</a> of the “US Trade Expansion Act of 1962.” While the Trump administration has temporarily waived some tariffs, it remains unclear whether these exemptions will continue.
<h3>How will India affect Apple’s valuation?</h3>
Despite India’s growing production base, it still depends on East and Southeast Asia for critical components. Apple’s industrial footprint in India today mirrors China’s development stage around 2008.
As India’s consumer market expands, Apple’s supply chain could increasingly cluster there, creating scale and synergy benefits. Still, infrastructure and logistics gaps mean India is years away from matching China’s efficiency.
“In the near term, as long as government incentives stay in place, Apple could turn India into a fully integrated ‘second hub’ for device production, components, and exports,” Lu said.
Because India is Apple’s fastest-growing single market, local production serves not only diversification goals but also booming domestic demand. This alignment enables Apple to capture gains from India’s ongoing consumption upgrade and sustain long-term growth.
On the demand side, India today mirrors China around 2012—a market where appetite for premium electronics is rapidly growing. Apple’s ecosystem is becoming deeply embedded in this space. The iPhone has become a cultural marker for young Indian consumers, much as it was for Chinese youth a decade ago.
India’s buoyant capital markets and steady economic momentum are also shaping investor confidence. As Apple’s revenue and asset exposure in India rise, this optimism may be reflected in its valuation. India’s growth strengthens both Apple’s fundamentals and market sentiment, potentially serving as a stabilizing factor for its share price.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3501634699648129">article</a> was written by Chen Sizhu for 36Kr.

iPhone 17 launch ignites frenzy in India as Apple’s “next China” takes shape

Smartphones

India

While office tools and productivity apps feature heavily among the application formats for <a href="/industry/ai">artificial intelligence</a>, this year's Apsara Conference offered a glimpse of what alternative applications might look like. One of them, in the hardware space, is neither a smartphone nor a pair of glasses. Instead, it's a guitar.
On September 24, Quwan Technology unveiled <a href="https://www.tempolorguitar.com/">TemPolor Melo-D</a>, described as the world’s first smart guitar equipped with generative AI.
<figure id="attachment_157771" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157771" style="width: 640px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-image-157771" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D.jpg" alt="Image of the TemPolor Melo-D." width="640" height="360" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/TemPolor-Melo-D-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157771" class="wp-caption-text">Image of the TemPolor Melo-D. Image and header image source: Quwan Technology.</figcaption></figure>
Unlike most smart instruments that depend on mobile apps, TemPolor is positioned as a self-contained “music generation terminal” that operates independently. It features a touch-enabled flip screen and is designed to provide a complete experience without the need for a smartphone.
Smart instruments aren’t new. Smart guitars, drumsticks, and others have emerged over the years, each with niche followings. But TemPolor’s true breakthrough is its use of generative AI to reshape both music play and music creation.
Users no longer need to practice complex chords or master music theory. By uploading a favorite song, or even just humming a melody, the installed Tianpuyue AI model can reportedly enable the device to generate a fingerstyle arrangement within minutes. The music then appears as visual notation on the guitar’s built-in screen, so any tune in your head can become playable reality.
At the launch, 36Kr tested the AI-assisted singing function. It supports humming aids, segmented practice, and automatic key matching. Traditional music lessons often feel rigid and discouraging, but TemPolor breaks the process into progressive stages: follow along, sing along, and eventually perform independently. This game-like approach reduces frustration for beginners.
For more advanced players, TemPolor offers a freestyle mode. It fully simulates the logic of a real fretboard, and it can map to six real strings, supporting single-note play without compromising professional standards.
This blend of low barriers to entry and ample room for exploratory use recalls some of the product philosophy behind Apple’s early iPhones, not hardware that piles on features, but hardware that redefines the user experience.
TemPolor’s arrival is not accidental. It reflects Quwan’s deep reading of music’s popularization trend and years of practice in the space.
Jia Shuo, who leads the TemPolor team, previously helped develop the Changya app during the mobile internet boom. The app introduced a pioneering interaction mode where users could sing and play without needing instrument skills.
Launched in February 2019, Changya quickly reached more than two million daily active users, earned annual app honors from <a href="/company/huawei">Huawei</a>, <a href="/company/oppo">Oppo</a>, Vivo, and <a href="/company/xiaomi">Xiaomi</a>, and accumulated 130 million user-generated performances.
Interestingly, Changya’s interface from six years ago looks strikingly similar to today’s companion apps for smart guitars. In a sense, Quwan’s team helped shape the definition of smart guitars long before the hardware caught up.
Changya’s success also confirmed strong demand among non-professionals for accessible music-making. Yet smartphones still limited what music apps could do. With the rise of generative AI, new experiences can no longer be fully realized within mobile devices. That led to TemPolor.
TemPolor taps into Quwan’s self-developed music generation model, Tianpuyue. The model is multimodal, capable of generating music from text, images, audio, and even video.
Building on the same foundation, the Tianpuyue team began closed testing in August for a conversational AI music agent called <a href="https://www.tunee.ai/en">Tunee</a>, which entered global public beta on September 26. Tunee is designed to act like a tireless, collaborative music partner, using dialogue to understand user needs and generate commercial-grade music, even including multitrack files.
Looking back, history’s most disruptive hardware has never just been about stronger specs, but about redefining the experience.
TemPolor offers a reinterpretation of what a musical instrument may represent. No longer only a tool for performance, it could be construed as a medium for expression. In an era where most AI-driven products focus on efficiency, whether to write code, design layouts, or optimize workflows, few explore how AI can enhance human expression and creativity.
At the Apsara Conference, Jia explained his thinking: Tunee and TemPolor represent two directions for AI applications. One prioritizes efficiency, the other experience.
Few global tech companies today combine all three forms, self-developed models, AI applications or agents, and smart hardware. But the trend is clear. Reports that <a href="/company/openai">OpenAI</a> will release its first piece of hardware next year, alongside Google’s and Apple’s ongoing exploration of generative AI with devices, show that leading firms are moving beyond software toward a holistic offering integrating models, hardware, and ecosystems.
Quwan’s approach with Tianpuyue, Tunee, and TemPolor aligns with this direction, only it remains firmly rooted in music. Through deep integration of models, agents, and hardware, it enables anyone passionate about music, even those without theory knowledge or instrumental skills, to step freely into the world of sound.
KrASIA Connection features translated and adapted content that was originally published by 36Kr. This <a href="https://36kr.com/p/3481805085711237">article</a> was written by Xiao Xi for 36Kr.

No practice required: Quwan’s TemPolor guitars use AI to make songs playable in minutes

Entertainment

Music

Creative

China's outbound investment in <a href="/industry/ev">electric vehicle</a> manufacturing is showing signs of slowing following five years of aggressive global expansion, with targets for spending shifting toward Asia and into less capital-intensive areas of the supply chain.
Capital intensive battery and raw material projects drove investment levels in the EV supply chain to a peak in 2023, but the value of new overseas investments has plateaued as companies shift to building lower-cost vehicle assembly facilities.
A total of 144 transactions worth USD 19.6 billion in EVs and the related value chain were announced by Chinese companies last year, with value nearly halving compared to the year before. For the first half of 2025, companies announced 64 transactions worth USD 10.4 billion, according to US-based consulting firm Rhodium Group, of which more than a third by value went toward downstream factories.
"Most of those [upstream] plans were in Europe, but now you have quite a slowdown, so we have a lot of projects having been canceled," said Armand Meyer, senior research analyst at Rhodium Group's China Data Services, adding that Chinese EV players are in effect blocked from the US market.
Despite the slowdown, Chinese companies' overseas investments in the sector are expected to continue to outpace domestic ones, according to the US-based consulting group. Foreign direct investment started to rebound last year from Covid-19 pandemic lows.
A quarter of China's completed outbound investments last year were in the EV value chain, up from 5% in 2021, as many projects are becoming fully operational or are expected to come online in the next few years. Production lines are cranking up as the Chinese government is set to <a title="" href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/china-to-impose-export-controls-on-passenger-evs-in-2026" target="_blank" rel="noopener">begin restricting exports</a> of passenger EVs next year.
Battery makers <a href="/company/catl">Contemporary Amperex Technology</a> (CATL), <a href="/company/byd">BYD</a>, and Envision were the top three investors in the EV supply chain in the last 11 and a half years, with a majority of investments bound for Europe.
Chinese battery executives told Nikkei Asia that new outbound investments have tapered this year due to an uncertain geopolitical environment and US President Donald Trump's sweeping tariffs that have upended global trade relations.
They added, however, that overseas markets remain more lucrative and their share of total revenue has grown as Chinese companies wage a cutthroat price war in their home market.
One battery executive said companies are exploring less capital intensive deals that may include licensing their technology with local manufacturing partners.
Trade protectionist measures by foreign governments, in particular the US and Europe, have prompted companies to move the supply chain outside of China. Europe has been the main beneficiary of Chinese EV investments, but companies are now shifting their spending toward Asia and the Middle East.
Indonesia has been a large recipient of Chinese capital, with its large resource of <a href="https://kr-asia.com/nickel-king-indonesia-relies-on-chinas-catl-for-ev-supply-chain-ambitions" target="_blank" rel="noopener">raw materials like nickel</a>. Many of Indonesia's nickel mines are Chinese owned, and Huayou Cobalt became a strategic partner in a major EV battery project earlier this year.
"Indonesia can also manufacture battery materials and battery cells, but Indonesia is also a <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/byd-catching-up-to-honda-mitsubishi-in-southeast-asia" target="_blank" rel="noopener">very large market</a>, so now you have EV assembly plans, too," Meyer said.
A wave of domestic investment in China's EV industry in 2021 and 2022 created battery manufacturing capacity two times local demand and 1.2 times global demand, according to Rhodium Group.
Chinese officials in recent months have spoken of combating overcapacity and price wars in sectors such as EVs and solar. Regulators have summoned clean energy companies, including EV maker BYD and solar panel manufacturer Trina Solar, to address "involution," a term used to describe excess competition that has led to aggressive price cuts.
One senior sales manager at a battery maker, speaking on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak publicly, added that the Chinese government has made it more challenging for companies to invest further overseas, with new export control rules on critical technologies for battery cathode materials unveiled in July.
The latest restriction, which requires battery firms to obtain government approval to use key LFP (lithium iron phosphate) battery-making technologies outside China, follows a move to ban exports of <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/economy/trade/china-bans-exports-of-rare-earth-magnet-technologies" target="_blank" rel="noopener">rare earth magnet technologies.</a>
Some analysts expect Chinese companies will be cleared to use the tech in their overseas facilities but that licensing it to foreign competitors is unlikely.
Investment into the US remains low compared to other markets as hostile US government policies have tightened scrutiny of Chinese battery manufacturers and largely shut Chinese EVs out of the market.
The outbound pursuit by Chinese electric car companies and their suppliers is part of China's larger clean technology industry acceleration overseas. Solar manufacturing made up the majority of outbound capital before the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report by John Hopkins University's Net Zero industrial Policy Lab, but batteries and EVs have gained momentum from 2022.
The report also highlighted a general slowdown in China's overseas clean tech buildout as companies navigate tighter rules of origin and other tariff concerns.
"Light-asset strategies—technology licensing, contract manufacturing, and OEM (original equipment manufacturing) deals—are spreading from EV makers to battery and solar firms, allowing Chinese champions to preserve market access without large fixed-asset bets," wrote the authors Xiaokang Xue and Mathias Larsen.
This article first appeared on <a href="https://asia.nikkei.com/business/automobiles/electric-vehicles/china-s-offshore-ev-investments-shift-toward-asia-amid-signs-of-slowdown">Nikkei Asia</a>. It has been republished here as part of 36Kr’s ongoing partnership with <a href="https://www.kr-asia.com/nikkei-teams-up-with-36kr-in-asia-tech-news-coverage/">Nikkei</a>.

China's offshore EV investments shift toward Asia amid signs of slowdown

After mastering how to walk on two legs, pour drinks, and even dance, humanoid robots are stepping closer to humanlike versatility. The latest stride comes with the launch of DR02, an industrial-grade robot developed by Hangzhou-based <a href="https://www.deeprobotics.cn/en">Deep Robotics</a>, built to operate reliably in all weather conditions.
Announced on October 9, DR02 is said to be the first humanoid robot worldwide to achieve an IP66 protection rating, certifying resistance to dust and powerful water jets, which are key for outdoor operation.
<figure id="attachment_157760" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157760" style="width: 480px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157760" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02-IP66.webp" alt="Graphic shows the DR02 humanoid robot being splashed with water to demonstrate its IP66-rated water resistance." width="480" height="270" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157760" class="wp-caption-text">The DR02 humanoid robot features a waterproof body and frame. Graphic and header image source: Deep Robotics.</figcaption></figure>
Standing 175 centimeters tall and weighing about 65 kilograms, DR02 is engineered for resilience. Its IP66-rated exterior and wide thermal tolerance enable it to function between -20 and 55 degrees Celsius, enduring rain, humidity, and dust, conditions that often disable less protected humanoid machines.
The robot reportedly walks at 1.5 meters per second and can accelerate up to four meters per second. It can climb slopes of up to 20 degrees, and each arm can lift loads of up to ten kilograms. Designed with modularity in mind, its major components, including arms and legs, can be quickly swapped to minimize maintenance downtime.
<figure id="attachment_157758" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-157758" style="width: 1920px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-157758" src="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02.jpg" alt="Image of the DR02 humanoid robot." width="1920" height="1080" srcset="https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02.jpg 1920w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02-720x405.jpg 720w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02-768x432.jpg 768w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https://console.kr-asia.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Deep-Robotics-DR02-480x270.jpg 480w" sizes="(max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-157758" class="wp-caption-text">Image of the DR02 humanoid robot. Image source: Deep Robotics.</figcaption></figure>
According to Deep Robotics, DR02 runs on 275 TOPS (tera operations per second) of computing power and integrates a multi-sensor array comprising LiDAR (light detection and ranging), depth sensors, and wide-angle cameras. This combination enables it to perceive obstacles, map routes, and adjust its movement in real time.
Altogether, this balance of strength, dexterity, perception, and environmental resilience positions DR02 for real-world applications in fields such as security, inspection, and logistics.
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DR02’s defining edge lies in environmental adaptability and industrial readiness. At present, few humanoid robots in China are designed with outdoor endurance as a priority. With its IP66 protection and industrial-grade payload capacity, DR02 distinguishes itself from domestic peers such as Unitree Robotics, Agibot, and UBTech. On the global front, it enters a field populated by well-known players including <a href="/company/tesla">Tesla</a> and Boston Dynamics, both of which have been advancing their own humanoid platforms.
The debut also reflects Deep Robotics’ ambitions to gain deeper footholds in a fast-growing industry. The global humanoid robot market was valued at about USD 2 billion in 2024, according to <a href="https://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/humanoid-robot-market-99567653.html">Markets and Markets</a>, but could expand to RMB 6 trillion (USD 840 billion) by 2050, based on Morgan Stanley’s <a href="https://www.morganstanley.com/insights/articles/humanoid-robot-market-5-trillion-by-2050">projections</a> that link the growth to embodied intelligence reaching large-scale commercialization.
Within that context, DR02’s focus on durability and outdoor utility may carve a niche that few others currently occupy, reflecting progress in both robotics engineering and how machines are designed to interact with their environments.

Deep Robotics unveils DR02, the world’s first IP66-rated humanoid robot

… and BBG Global, with participation from MVGX Tech and Startech Global Ventures.</li>
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