The battlefield for Chinese humanoid robotics is shifting from motors, joints, and mechanical structures toward AI large models. As embodied AI models begin handling perception, task planning, and motion control, manufacturers are working to deploy a single AI capability across diverse robots and application scenarios, effectively decoupling the robot's "brain" from its "body."
The inference economy has arrived, and Taiwan's tech industry must transition from the "knowledge economy" to the "inference economy," DIGITIMES chairman Colley Hwang said on August 20 at a forum exploring future trends in the semiconductor industry. He also warned that Taiwan's AI data center capacity is about one-sixth of South Korea's.
Fueled by robust global demand for artificial intelligence and the rapid expansion of semiconductor advanced packaging capacity, Kenmec Mechanical Engineering, a subsidiary of Kenmec Group, has seen its order backlog surge to nearly NT$6.661 billion (approx. US$209.1 million). Driven by this momentum, both the subsidiary and the group overall are on track to hit historic highs in revenue and order intake in 2026.
Samsung Electronics is gaining pricing power in its foundry business as AI and high-bandwidth memory (HBM) demand tightens advanced-node capacity, with its 4nm lines reportedly fully booked through 2027 and some customers being steered toward 5nm production.
Unitree Robotics' August 19 listing on China's STAR Market brought the humanoid robot maker into the public-market spotlight, but attention quickly spread beyond its share price. The company's listing reception that evening drew investors, technology figures and venture capital executives, reflecting how Unitree has accumulated interest across technology, capital markets and the broader public.
Delta Electronics outlined a broader AI strategy at the Taipei International Industrial Automation Exhibition on August 19, unveiling robotics and smart manufacturing applications designed to speed deployment across machinery, electronics, and semiconductors. The Taiwan-based industrial technology company also introduced its first Embodied AI Dual-Arm Robot Platform as it sharpened its focus on factory automation and production autonomy.
OpenAI told employees it could go public in 2027, though an earlier listing remains possible if operating conditions improve. According to CNBC, the company framed an initial public offering as another funding round, not an endpoint, and said its US$122 billion capital raise in March gave it flexibility on timing.
Unitree Robotics' August 19 debut on Shanghai's STAR Market did more than crown China's first mainland-listed humanoid robot maker. It marked a shift in the industry from competition between robot brands to a harder contest over supply-chain cost, AI capability, and mass production.
Kenmec Group founder and president Frank Hsieh said on August 19 that two of the company's new businesses have taken shape, with Taisic Materials focusing on silicon carbide (SiC), a third-generation semiconductor material, and Kentec targeting the AI data center (AIDC) market. Both companies are expected to list on Taiwan's Emerging Stock Board in October 2026.
As artificial intelligence expands from digital environments into physical operations, embodied intelligence is emerging as a new frontier for technology companies. Xiaomi's latest earnings call offered a glimpse into how the company is approaching this field, with robotics positioned not as a standalone product category, but as a capability designed to enhance manufacturing, automation, and future industrial applications.
As competition in artificial intelligence shifts from model development toward real-world deployment, Xiaomi is betting that its advantage will come not only from building foundation models, but from integrating those models across a broad hardware ecosystem spanning smartphones, smart homes, and electric vehicles.
