August M
China is accelerating its shift toward “embodied AI,” preparing to deploy humanoid robots along its border with Vietnam in a major pilot reported by El Economista.
China’s rapid adoption of “embodied AI” is beginning to expand from airports and industrial sites into areas once reserved solely for human security personnel.
The country’s push to merge advanced artificial intelligence with humanoid machines is now entering a new phase, according to reporting from El Economista.
That broader strategy is coming into sharper focus with a newly revealed pilot that places humanoid robots directly on the frontier with Vietnam.
China’s robotics surge
El Economista reports that officials have increasingly turned to humanoid platforms to carry out everyday tasks, from factory inspections to passenger assistance.
One example cited by the outlet is the deployment of a service robot at Hangzhou Xiaoshan International Airport, where the machine performs routine customer-facing duties.
The publication notes that this shift reflects Beijing’s wider ambition to integrate physical embodiments of AI into public infrastructure as the technologies mature.
UBTech Robotics, highlighted by El Economista as one of China’s leading manufacturers in this sector, is positioned at the centre of that push.
Technical leap
The model set to play a starring role in UBTech’s upcoming projects is the Walker S2. As described by El Economista, the robot’s most unconventional feature is a modular, hot-swappable power system allowing it to replace its own battery without powering down.
Border pilot revealed
Against that backdrop, El Economista reports that UBTech has signed a contract valued at 264 million yuan (around 32 million euros) to send these robots to China’s Guangxi region for a trial beginning in December.
According to the outlet, the plan is not limited to patrols. The robots are expected to guide travellers, help regulate the movement of people, assist in logistics tasks and support trade-related services at designated crossings.
El Economista also notes that authorities intend to assign them to inspection work in steel, copper and aluminium facilities in the same region.
Sources: El Economista
