Global Humanoid Robot Conference 2025 Convenes in Shanghai
The Global Humanoid Robot Conference 2025 opened in Shanghai, gathering more than 200 companies and 50,000 visitors to showcase the latest bipedal platforms, dexterous hands, foundation models, and supply-chain breakthroughs shaping the next generation of general-purpose humanoid robots.
The Global Humanoid Robot Conference (GHRC) 2025 has officially opened at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition and Convention Center, drawing over 200 exhibiting companies and an estimated 50,000 attendees over its three-day run. The conference has rapidly become the world's largest dedicated humanoid robotics event, reflecting China's growing ambition to lead the global humanoid robot industry.
This year's conference features an unprecedented array of product launches and technology demonstrations. Major highlights include the debut of several new humanoid robot models from Chinese manufacturers, including Xiaomi's CyberOne 2.0, UBTECH's Walker S2, and the latest iteration of the Unitree H1. International participants include Tesla, which showcased the latest Optimus Gen 3, and Figure AI, which demonstrated its Figure 02 performing complex assembly tasks.
A central theme of GHRC 2025 is the convergence of AI foundation models with humanoid robot hardware. Multiple companies demonstrated robots capable of understanding natural language instructions, learning new tasks through demonstration, and adapting to unstructured environments — capabilities that were largely theoretical just two years ago. The conference also featured a dedicated 'Embodied AI Summit' with presentations from leading AI labs including OpenAI, DeepMind, and Shanghai AI Lab.
The supply chain exhibition hall revealed the rapid maturation of the humanoid robotics ecosystem. Component manufacturers showcased specialized actuators, sensors, and AI chips designed specifically for humanoid robots, with many achieving significant cost reductions through scaled production. Industry analysts noted that the cost of key components like harmonic drives and torque sensors has dropped by 40-60% over the past two years.
The conference also served as a platform for policy announcements, with Shanghai municipal government unveiling a new $1.5 billion fund dedicated to humanoid robotics R&D and industrialization. The fund aims to support 100 startups, establish 5 national-level research labs, and create a complete humanoid robot supply chain cluster in the Yangtze River Delta region by 2028.
We are witnessing the birth of a new industry. In five years, humanoid robots will be as common in factories and homes as smartphones are today.
— Dr. Li Zexiang, Chairman of GHRC 2025