China’s humanoid arms race: start-ups debut robots for stores, offices and factories

China’s robotics industry is turning into a humanoid arms race as start-ups – fresh from big funding rounds – are rolling out new robots in a bid to beat tech giants to real-world deployment.

Beijing-based Noetix Robotics this week unveiled Hobbs W1, a service humanoid with a lifelike female face, a black bob and dexterous hands, as a new wave of venture-backed companies pushes into increasingly humanlike designs.

Noetix billed Hobbs W1 as its most humanlike robot to date.

The humanoid pairs a skin-toned, expressive face with a metallic silver body that appears to feature an ankle-length skirt silhouette, alongside six-degrees-of-freedom (6-DoF) hands designed for fine manipulation.

In a video posted to Chinese video-sharing platform Bilibili, the company positioned Hobbs W1 as an “all-round” service robot capable of handling receptionist-style tasks and visitor guidance.

Noetix said the humanoid could recognise emotions, sustain natural conversations and operate across professional environments such as hospitality, retail and corporate offices.