Beijing-based Xiaomi is ramping up its robotics research and development to compete in the growing global humanoid market.
Beijing-based Xiaomi is ramping up its robotics research and development to compete in the growing global humanoid market. Reports have surfaced suggesting that the company has hired a senior engineer from Elon Musk’s Tesla Optimus team.
The hire reflects Xiaomi’s fierce ambition to become a major player in embodied Artificial Intelligence and robotics, after its foray into the competitive electric vehicle market.Elon Musk’s team’s engineer to work on dexterous hand developmentXiaomi has hired Zach Lu Zeyu, a former senior robotics engineer focused on the Tesla Optimus humanoid robot, according to a report by the South China Morning Post .Lu joined Xiaomi last month to lead the research and development for the company’s dexterous hand operations.During his two-year tenure at Elon Musk’s Tesla, Lu specialized in designing systems for dexterous grasping and manipulation, as well as tactile sensing. These areas are key to making robots really useful.Dexterous grasping involves engineering a robot’s hand to mimic the complex flexibility and precision of a human hand, enabling it to perform tasks far beyond simple gripping.Tactile sensing, the robot’s ability to “feel” pressure, texture, and slippage, is equally vital. This sensory feedback is essential for the robot to automatically adjust its grip strength, allowing it to successfully handle delicate or oddly shaped objects without crushing them.The necessity of these human-like capabilities has made dexterous hands and tactile sensing a highly competitive focus area in robotics research globally.US-China humanoid raceLu’s recruitment — a graduate of the National University of Singapore with a PhD in mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineering — reflects Xiaomi’s commitment to building a world-class team. SCMP reported that the company recently posted various job openings specifically for engineers and designers on its Dexterous Hand project, in addition to over 200 other robotics-related roles.In other recent strategic moves. Last week, Xiaomi released MiMo-Embodied as an open-source foundation model, which combines autonomous driving and embodied AI technologies.Furthermore, the firm recently recruited Chinese AI prodigy Luo Fuli, a former DeepSeek researcher, for its MiMo team.Xiaomi demonstrated its early commitment to robotics by unveiling a quadrupedal robot dog prototype in 2021, followed by a humanoid robot in 2022, clearly showcasing a long-term vision in the sector.While Xiaomi steps up its recruitment, the Chinese industry is also facing a talent squeeze. For instance, Hangzhou-based Deep Robotics recently cited a severe talent shortage that is hindering the commercialization of its R&D.Xiaomi’s growing ambition in robotics is unfolding amid an intensifying technological rivalry between the U.S. and China to build the world’s best bots. While both nations are vying for dominance, their strengths currently differ. Experts note that China is leading in the quantity of robots delivered to consumers and affordability. However, American firms lead the way in the quality of their demonstrated robots and advanced Artificial Intelligence capabilities.Earlier, Musk detailed plans for a Fremont factory designed to eventually produce a million bots annually, targeting a price of about $20,000. In contrast, China’s Unitree Robotics is focused on immediate market availability, already selling a functioning humanoid robot capable of walking and dancing for a much lower starting price of around $6,000.The scale of China’s commitment is reflected in the International Federation of Robotics estimate of at least 80 humanoid-robot companies in China, five times the number in the U.S.
Humanoid Humanoid Robot Inventions And Machines Robot Tesla Xiaomi Zach Lu Zeyu
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