Humanoid robotics firms shift toward consumer and cultural ventures

China's robot industry is poised to command the spotlight this Chinese New Year holiday. Kicking off the festivities, AgiBot deployed over 200 humanoid robots of various models at a trailblazing live gala.

The Sunday night event showcased a diverse lineup ranging from synchronized dances and comedy skits to magic acts and traditional martial arts, signaling a shift by Chinese humanoid robotics firms from purely industrial applications toward consumer entertainment and cultural ventures.

While confirming earlier that it would sit out the massively popular Spring Festival Gala, AgiBot, based in Shanghai, instead unveiled its own meticulously staged production, revealing a bold demonstration of its technological prowess.

The evening's highlights offered a vivid glimpse into the future of robotic performances. The opening act featured 24 X2 robots performing in flawless synchronization. In a particularly stunning moment, one of the robots, suspended on wires, executed a series of graceful aerial maneuvers.

The comedy show featured multiple robots sharing the stage to display nascent emotional intelligence, generating laughter by exhibiting embarrassment and confusion through nuanced body language. The most buzzworthy segment saw a celebrity actor performing magic alongside the AgiBot robots, pointing toward a future in onstage human-robot collaboration.

The performance was designed not merely as a spectacle, but as a stress test for robots operating in complex, unpredictable environments, hinting at commercial possibilities in tourism, public services and interactive entertainment.

AgiBot announced that it had already received cooperation intentions from large-scale song-and-dance theaters, performance centers, and science and technology museums, which plan to purchase the copyright for the entire evening gala for regular performances.

This gambit signaled a broader trend: China's humanoid robotics players are leveraging high-profile cultural exposure to raise their profile as they muscle into the consumer market.

Meanwhile, Unitree Robotics confirmed its third collaboration with the annual Spring Festival Gala, set to be broadcast live next Monday night, Spring Festival Eve. The robotics firm, based in Hangzhou in East China's Zhejiang province, made headlines in December when its G1 robots shared the concert stage with a pop star. The clip later earned an emphatic endorsement from Elon Musk on social media: "Impressive."

Also included in the 2026 Spring Festival Gala lineup are three other Chinese humanoid robotics firms — MagicLab, Noetix Robotics and Galbot. Their presence as official partners is expected to turn a sentiment-drenched celebration, traditionally centered on warm blessings, into a stage for cutting-edge hardware.

This surge in robotic entertainment at local celebrations and corporate year-end events has created a promising rental market. AgiBot has entered the space with its newly launched platform, Qingtian Rent, which is rolling out across 50 cities and has a fleet of 1,000 robots ready for deployment.

The robot performance trend masks a deeper transformation. Over the past year, Chinese-made bots have shed their doddering "grandma gait" for athletic prowess, and are now capable of boxing combinations, acrobatic backflips, and grueling long-distance trials.

In April, Beijing will host its second humanoid robot half-marathon, following the world's first edition in 2025, which also took place in China's capital.

An industry report reveals that Chinese robotics firms emerged as the largest producers of humanoid robots worldwide in 2025. AgiBot achieved an annual shipment volume of more than 5,100 units last year, securing a 39 percent share of the global humanoid robot market and ranking first worldwide in both shipment volume and market share.

It was followed by Unitree and UBTECH, based in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong province, according to the report released by Omdia, a tech consultancy based in London. (Source: China daily)