Robots should understand you, talk to you, and work for you: Chinese robotics company Agibot is heralding a robot revolution I met the humanoids up close

Date:
Tue, 07 Jul 2026 12:48:11 +0000

Description:
Agibot's range of humanoid robots has arrived in the UK, and I got the chance to meet them in person.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Chinese robotics firm Agibot
has launched a range of humanoid robots designed to look, move, and sound
like human beings in the UK business-to-business (B2B) market.

The Shanghai-based company, founded in 2023 by two former Huawei engineers, hosted a launch event in London on June 30, 2026, with several of its A3 full-sized humanoid and X2 half-size humanoid robots in attendance, as well
as current and prospective business partners. An Agibot X3 cutting some serious shapes (it doesn't do 'the robot' though) (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future) The robots all controlled by humans with smartphones and DualSense controllers were deployed at several demo stations in the event space. Latest Videos From Watch full video here:

One X2 humanoid robot was set up to dance to peppy music, cutting some
serious shapes for a constant crowd, while another in a Harry Kane shirt kicked a football into a net. A third wore a suit of (admittedly very cool) Gundam-style armor, demonstrating the robots potential for customization.
This Gundam-style armor was designed to show the X2 robot's customization potential (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future) As for the full-sized A3 humanoid less expressive than its smaller sibling, with sharper angles and a rather blank circle in place of the X2s animated eyes a unit was made available to greet guests and for photo opportunities. You may like Chinese robotics company Agibot says in some jobs, workers want to be replaced by humanoids UBTech introduced its first realistic humanoid, which it could make into replicas of loved ones Alibaba reveals its most powerful AI models for robots as it looks to strike ahead in agentic race In a presentation at the
UK launch event, Agibot co-founder and COO Daniel Jiang said: The robot business is the AI business. Robots should understand you, know what you say, talk to you, and work for you.

Indeed, at the launch event, the word robot was as common as the phrase embodied AI, as Agibot representatives attempted to position the firms
product range as a signifier of a new technological era: the fourth
industrial revolution. Get daily insight, inspiration and deals in your inbox Sign up for breaking news, reviews, opinion, top tech deals, and more.
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us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors By submitting your information you agree to the Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy and are aged 16 or over. The Agibot X2 was the clear star of the show, and by far the firm's best-represented product (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future) In a later talk, co-founder and R&D president Yan Xiong said: Of the products Ive worked on, embodied AI is the most exciting and inspiring. Through three intelligences in one body, robots can become human-like.

The three intelligences in question control interaction, locomotion, and manipulation, powered by on-device AI models that communicate with cloud servers. It seems that Agibot sees itself as an AI company first and
foremost, and is allocating its resources in kind: Our main focus is the research and development of the three intelligences, taking up 75% of our R&D staff, and 80 per cent of our R&D budget. The Agibot A3 was demoed on-stage
as the firm's flagship product (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future) Thats not to say that the firm's humanoid robots arent profoundly impressive. The units are made mainly of magnesium alloy, with titanium reinforcements at pressure points to ensure rigidity. The A3 weighs 55kg, which is pretty reasonable when you consider its 5-foot-8-inch (173cm) height, and lasts up
to 10 hours on a single charge of its 1152W battery. What to read next
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In comparison, the 4-foot-3-inch (131cm) X2 weighs 39kg and lasts for two hours. The units communicate with the internet via dual-module, dual-SIM 5G.

Also present were units from Agibot's D1 quadruped range, inexplicably programmed to do backflips on command, as well as G2-series industrial robots and C5 cleaning robots. The top-tier D1 model, the D1 MaxPro, has a carrying capacity of 50kg, while only weighing 68kg itself. Don't call them dogs: Agibot never described its D1-series robots in canine terms (Image credit: Jamie Richards Future) Agibot is young but quickly increasing its production capacity. It recently rolled out its 15,000th unit, having passed 10,000
units just three months earlier, and has already deployed its G2 industrial robots in Chinas Longcheer electronics factory. Indeed, much of the event was dedicated to promoting possible use cases for each model in industries like construction, live entertainment, and the corporate world.

Having shaken hands with the X2 and watched the D1 wave its paw and, again, perform several perfect backflips, I have to admit that Im still stunned by Agibot's range of robots. The firms launch has done nothing to allay my many concerns about AI, but its still almost unbelievable to see actual droids walking around.

Its clear that Agibot wants its robots to be relatable the dance moves, handshakes, and free kicks are obviously an effort to instill some kind of affection in a crowd of possible customers. Id be lying if I said I didnt
find the X2 wildly entertaining, even though I know it's just metal and plastic but thats the power of pattern recognition. The Agibot X2 has
nothing of its own to say yet, but with further development towards autonomy, that could soon change (Image credit: Jamie Richards / Future) If Agibot can make strides towards its professed goal of autonomous operation, then we really arent too far away from having a real-life C3PO on our hands.

Its early days, but the firms leadership sounds committed. In his presentation, Yan Xiong said: Scaling to mass production is the first hurdle to mature the embodied AI industry. After we achieve mass production, the
next step is to bring our portfolio to commercial availability."

AI should not be confined behind screens, he later added, it must be brought into the physical world. Follow TechRadar on Google News and add us as a preferred source to get our expert news, reviews, and opinion in your feeds. Make sure to click the Follow button!

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