BYD also wants to make humanoid robots?

On August 24, Tianyancha APP showed that Shanghai Zhiyuan New Innovation Technology Co., Ltd., a company affiliated with Zhiyuan Robot, had undergone industrial and commercial changes. Peng Zhihui (Zhihui Jun) was added as a director, and BYD Co., Ltd. was added as a shareholder. At the same time, the company The registered capital increased from approximately RMB 48.47 million to approximately RMB 50.97 million.

This time BYD takes a stake in Shanghai Zhiyuan New Technology Co., Ltd., is it also going to enter the humanoid robot industry?

Agibot was born in February 2023. It is a robot company founded by Zhihui Jun, a former Huawei "genius boy" and a million-fan up owner of Bilibili Technology Zone, after he left Huawei. It focuses on the development of general humanoid robots and Embodied intelligence.

At the same time, Zhiyuan Xinchuang was established. Its legal representative is Shu Yuanchun. Its business scope includes the research and development of intelligent robots, the development of artificial intelligence theory and algorithm software, the sales of artificial intelligence hardware, and the sales of electronic products.

Recently, Zhiyuan Robot also released its humanoid robot Expedition A1, which also lowered the cost of humanoid robots to less than 200,000.

Public information shows that in just three months after its establishment, Zhiyuan Robot has completed two rounds of financing, and its valuation has been revealed to be around one billion US dollars.

In addition, the identity of the shareholders behind Zhiyuan Robot is also quite eye-catching. They include not only the big technology company Baidu, but also institutional investors such as Hillhouse, Qiji Chuangtan, Matrix Partners, CDH, and Gaorong. They have also attracted Shanghai Huanxin Phase I Local state-owned assets such as Private Equity Investment Fund Partnership (Limited Partnership) and Shanghai Sinan Yuanke Private Equity Management Co., Ltd. have invested in the company.

Today, the humanoid robot sector is experiencing an important catalysis. Beijing has established a 10 billion robot industry fund, multiple humanoid robots have been unveiled at the 2023 World Robot Conference, and many technologies have ushered in higher-level solutions. However, the current humanoid robots are still in the introduction stage, and there are difficulties in commercialization. In general, progress has been made on many technical difficulties and user pain points of domestic humanoid robots, and the entry of Tesla Optimus has clarified the path to cost reduction. But what is certain is that the market for humanoid robots is vast.

Goldman Sachs predicts that the humanoid robot market may reach US$154 billion in 2035. As major technology companies increase their presence, all links in the domestic industrial chain are expected to usher in rapid development. The domestic industrial chain leads the world in cost reduction and large-scale production, and is expected to fully benefit from the explosion of the humanoid robot market.

At present, the humanoid robot track is in a very early stage and has not yet been industrialized. Domestic suppliers are expected to quickly enter the "body + parts" link by virtue of their cost advantages, accelerate the process of domestic substitution of key technologies, and improve the layout of the industrial chain.

In the long run, the global humanoid robot market will reach one trillion in size by 2030, and is expected to become another blue ocean of AI implementation scenarios after intelligent driving electric vehicles. All links in the humanoid robot industry chain are expected to usher in rapid development opportunities.

According to predictions from PCedence Research, the global humanoid robot market size is expected to be US$1.62 billion in 2022, and is expected to reach approximately US$28.66 billion by 2032, growing at a compound annual growth rate of 33.28%.

Tesla’s entry into the game will accelerate the iteration of software and hardware for humanoid robots. Over the past 100 years, many domestic and foreign companies have launched humanoid robots that can achieve basic movements and interactions. Tesla has announced its humanoid robot project in August 2021, demonstrated prototypes in September 2022, and released it in May 2023. Optimus (with functions such as natural walking, motor torque control, force control, environment recognition and memory) has demonstrated extremely fast product iteration capabilities, making it possible for faster iteration breakthroughs and cost reductions in key humanoid robot technologies.