Embodied AI Glossary中文13Companies & Institutions
Who’s actually working on embodied AI: tech giants, hardware and model companies worldwide, component makers, and research institutions. · 237 terms
- 13.1Tech giants’ embodied AI bets24
- 13.2Foundation-model startups outside China14
- 13.3Humanoid and hardware firms abroad16
- 13.4Humanoid and hardware firms in China24
- 13.5Foundation-model startups in China15
- 13.6Crossovers: cars and consumer electronics13
- 13.7Arms, service, and logistics robots26
- 13.8World models, simulation, and data15
- 13.9Core components and dexterous hands27
- 13.10Sensors, motion capture, and chips29
- 13.11Research institutions and university labs22
- 13.12Historic firms and industry bodies12
13.1Tech giants’ embodied AI bets
From models to companies: giants like Google and NVIDIA supply compute, platforms, and models, and also build robots and fund startups.
- Google DeepMind谷歌 DeepMindGoogle's AI research division, source of the RT series and Gemini Robotics.
- NVIDIA英伟达The GPU giant, supplying a full stack of compute and software for training, simulating, and deploying robots.
- Tesla特斯拉The electric-car company developing the Optimus humanoid robot.
- An open-source AI model and dataset hosting platform, whose robotics effort is LeRobot.
- NVIDIA Generalist Embodied Agent Research Lab英伟达 GEAR 实验室NVIDIA Research's group for general-purpose embodied agents, the team behind the GR00T humanoid model.
- The maker of ChatGPT, which in its early years also built a robot hand that solved a Rubik's Cube.
- Facebook's parent company, whose FAIR lab researches world models while a separate team builds humanoid robots.
- Meta Fundamental AI ResearchMeta FAIRMeta's foundational AI research lab, known for open models like Segment Anything, DINO, V-JEPA, and the Habitat simulator.
- Amazon Robotics亚马逊机器人Amazon's warehouse robotics division, evolved from Kiva Systems, now running a fleet of more than a million robots.
- SoftBank Group软银集团A Japanese tech-investment conglomerate making large recent bets on robotics and physical AI.
- Huawei华为A Shenzhen telecom and tech giant entering embodied AI through chips, cloud platforms, and large models.
- Alibaba Group阿里巴巴A Hangzhou internet giant self-developing embodied models under the Qwen brand while investing in multiple robot-body makers.
- Robbyant蚂蚁灵波An embodied-AI company under Ant Group that open-sources the LingBot family of robot models.
- ByteDance Seed字节跳动 SeedByteDance's foundation-model research team, whose robotics effort is the GR series of VLAs.
- Tencent Robotics X Lab腾讯 Robotics X 实验室Tencent's robotics research lab, founded in 2018, now focused on an embodied-AI software platform.
- JD.com京东（具身智能投资）An e-commerce and logistics giant that has invested heavily in embodied AI since 2025 while building its own data and testing grounds.
- Meituan美团（具身智能投资）A Chinese local-services platform that is also one of the most active investors in embodied AI.
- Intrinsic (Alphabet)IntrinsicAn industrial-robot software company incubated at Alphabet's X, folded into Google in 2026.
- A French open-source robotics company behind Reachy, acquired by Hugging Face in 2025.
- Microsoft Research微软（微软研究院）Microsoft's fundamental research arm, which released the Phi-derived robotics model Rho-alpha in 2026.
- A startup building whole-body control models for humanoid robots, acquired by Meta in 2026.
- Amazon Frontier AI & Robotics亚马逊前沿 AI 与机器人团队Amazon's robot foundation-model team, built around the Covariant team it absorbed.
- A Berkeley-linked warehouse-picking AI company that released RFM-1, with its core team absorbed by Amazon in 2024.
- Alibaba DAMO Academy阿里达摩院Alibaba's frontier research institute, source of the open-source RynnBrain and other embodied-AI models.
13.2Foundation-model startups outside China
Beyond big tech, a wave of startups outside China focus on the robot brain, led by Physical Intelligence and Skild AI.
- An American startup that builds only robot 'brains,' maker of the π series of VLAs.
- A US company building a cross-robot general foundation model, Skild Brain, without making its own robot hardware.
- A US embodied-AI company that trains its GEN-series foundation models on huge amounts of real-robot interaction data.
- A robotics company that grew out of the Genesis simulator, building dexterous manipulation with matched hardware and software.
- A US embodied-foundation-model startup that gets robots running long, reliable shifts in real commercial settings.
- A US startup building a general-purpose “brain” for robots working in the field and on job sites.
- Flexion RoboticsFlexionAn ETH Zurich spin-off building an autonomy software stack for humanoid robots.
- A US embodied-AI startup that pre-trains robot policies on internet video, aimed at industrial settings.
- A US home-robotics company founded by the creators of ALOHA and Diffusion Policy, building the Memo robot.
- A US startup founded by Cruise's Kyle Vogt to build household robots.
- A US factory-automation AI robotics startup spun out of the EV maker Rivian.
- Project Prometheus普罗米修斯计划A Bezos-backed AI company building physical AI for engineering and manufacturing.
- A US company retrofitting excavators and other heavy machinery with self-driving kits.
- A London end-to-end autonomous-driving company that calls its own work embodied AI and now runs robotaxis with Uber.
13.3Humanoid and hardware firms abroad
A brain still needs a body: Figure, Boston Dynamics, 1X, and other firms outside China build humanoids and other hardware.
- An American humanoid robot company, maker of the Figure robot series and the Helix model.
- Boston Dynamics波士顿动力A veteran legged-robot company, maker of the Spot robot dog and the Atlas humanoid.
- A Norway-founded humanoid robot company, best known for its home humanoid NEO.
- An American bipedal humanoid robot company whose Digit robot is already commercially deployed in logistics warehouses.
- An Austin, Texas humanoid robot company, maker of Apollo, partnered with Google DeepMind.
- A German “cognitive robotics” company making collaborative arms and the 4NE1 humanoid robot.
- A Canadian humanoid-robot company building the Phoenix humanoid and its Carbon control system.
- Foundation RoboticsFoundationA US humanoid-robot startup focused on defense and industrial use, maker of the Phantom robot.
- A Houston humanoid-robot company targeting heavy industry, especially shipyard welding.
- HumanoidHumanoid（英国人形机器人公司）A London humanoid-robot company building the HMND 01 in wheeled and bipedal versions.
- A Korean company founded by KAIST's humanoid HUBO team, under Samsung's control since 2025.
- A company building humanoid robots driven by artificial muscles that copy human anatomy.
- A British humanoid-robot company known for Ameca, prized for its lifelike facial expressions.
- A spin-out of ETH Zurich building the ANYmal industrial-inspection quadruped robot.
- A US mobile-manipulation robotics company, maker of the lightweight, open-source Stretch robot.
- A US company founded by a former Amazon Robotics VP, building the Proxie mobile robot that works alongside people.
13.4Humanoid and hardware firms in China
Back to China, where hardware makers are most numerous, led by Unitree, AgiBot, and UBTech, spanning humanoids, quadrupeds, and wheeled dual-arm robots.
- Unitree Robotics宇树科技A Hangzhou maker of quadruped and humanoid robots, known for low-cost, high-performance hardware.
- AgiBot智元机器人A Shanghai humanoid robot company that builds its own hardware, models, and datasets in-house.
- A Shenzhen humanoid robot company, listed in Hong Kong, best known for its industrial Walker S humanoid.
- Galbot银河通用A Beijing embodied-AI company founded by PKU's He Wang, building wheeled humanoid robots and embodied foundation models.
- Galaxea AI星海图A Beijing embodied AI company that builds both the wheeled bimanual robot R1 and the open-source G0 model.
- Fourier傅利叶A Shanghai humanoid robot company that started in rehabilitation robotics, maker of the GR series.
- LimX Dynamics逐际动力A Shenzhen legged- and humanoid-robot company behind the TRON series and the Oli humanoid.
- EngineAI众擎机器人A Shenzhen humanoid-robot company known for straight-knee walking and dynamic moves like front flips.
- Booster Robotics加速进化A Beijing humanoid-robot company making small and mid-size humanoids for developers and robot soccer.
- RobotEra星动纪元A Tsinghua-incubated humanoid-robot company building its own hardware, dexterous hands, and models in-house.
- Noetix Robotics松延动力A Beijing humanoid-robot company known for the low-cost N2, the sub-RMB-10,000 Bumi, and bionic faces.
- Leju Robotics乐聚机器人A Shenzhen humanoid-robot company behind the Kuavo robot, now pursuing a ChiNext IPO in 2026.
- MagicLab魔法原子A humanoid-robot company incubated by Dreame Technology, maker of MagicBot and MagicDog.
- Astribot星尘智能A Shenzhen company building the tendon-driven AI robot Astribot S1.
- DEEP Robotics云深处科技A Hangzhou quadruped-robot maker focused on power-line inspection and other industrial uses, now pursuing a STAR Market IPO.
- A STAR Market materials company now controlled by AgiBot, which has pivoted it into consumer robots.
- A Zhejiang precision-parts listed company that has come under UBTech's control since 2026.
- Kepler Robotics开普勒机器人A Shanghai industrial-humanoid company, maker of the Forerunner K2 “Bumblebee” robot.
- CASBOT (Beijing Zhongke Huiling Robot Technology)中科慧灵（灵宝 CASBOT）A Beijing humanoid-robot company whose products include the bipedal CASBOT 01/02 and the wheeled W1.
- Kunlunxing Robotics昆仑行机器人A Beijing humanoid-robot company founded in 2026 by former Alibaba Cloud and Li Auto executives.
- UniX AI优理奇A Suzhou embodied-AI company known for its wheeled dual-arm humanoid, Wanda.
- Lumos Robotics鹿明机器人A Shenzhen humanoid-robot company that also makes FastUMI, an embodiment-free data-collection device.
- AheadForm首形科技A Chinese startup building hyper-realistic robots with expressive, humanlike faces.
- Vbot维他动力A consumer robot-dog company founded by former Horizon Robotics VP Yinan Yu.
13.5Foundation-model startups in China
A domestic wave focused on the brain too — led by X Square Robot, Spirit AI, and AI² Robotics — many rooted in academia or autonomous driving.
- X Square Robot自变量机器人A Shenzhen embodied-AI company building its own end-to-end WALL model family and wheeled dual-arm robots.
- Spirit AI千寻智能A Hangzhou embodied-AI company building the Moz1 humanoid and the open-source Spirit VLA model.
- AI² Robotics智平方A Shenzhen general-purpose embodied-robot company behind the GOVLA model and the AlphaBot humanoid.
- TARS Robotics它石智航A Shanghai embodied-AI company founded by former Huawei and Baidu autonomous-driving executives, training its AWE model mainly on human data.
- PsiBot灵初智能A Shanghai embodied-AI company focused on dexterous-manipulation models and low-cost human data collection.
- Dexmal原力灵机An embodied-AI company founded by Megvii co-founder Wenbin Tang, building VLA models, open tools, and benchmarks.
- ACE Robotics大晓机器人A Shanghai robot-brain company, led by SenseTime co-founder Xiaogang Wang, built around a world model.
- Noematrix穹彻智能An embodied-AI “brain” company incubated by Flexiv Robotics and co-founded by Cewu Lu.
- BeingBeyond智在无界A Beijing embodied-foundation-model startup whose Being-H series learns dexterous manipulation from videos of human hands.
- A BAAI-incubated embodied-brain company in Beijing pursuing a hardware-software-integrated, on-device deployment approach.
- Five Ages中科第五纪A Chinese embodied-AI startup reportedly closely connected to the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences.
- Wujie Dynamics无界动力A Beijing company founded by former Horizon Robotics VP Yufeng Zhang, building a general-purpose robot brain.
- An embodied-AI company founded by former Li Auto autonomous-driving executives, building both models and robot bodies.
- Morphi墨奇智能An embodied-AI company co-founded by a former Huawei autonomous-driving lead, aiming at a general home robot.
- Pragmatik Labs语用科技An AI-agent company founded by former Qwen tech lead Junyang Lin, with embodied AI among its directions.
13.6Crossovers: cars and consumer electronics
Beyond native embodied-AI companies, carmakers and consumer electronics firms are crossing over too, led by Xiaomi and Xpeng.
- Xiaomi小米A Chinese consumer-electronics company making phones and EVs that also builds robot dogs, a humanoid, and open VLA models.
- XPeng小鹏汽车A Guangzhou smart-EV maker building the IRON humanoid robot, a leading example of automakers entering humanoid robotics.
- The world's top-selling EV maker, which unveiled the humanoid robot “Xiaodi” in 2026 for use in showrooms.
- Hyundai Motor Group现代汽车集团A South Korean automaker group, Boston Dynamics' controlling shareholder and first major customer.
- HONOR荣耀A Shenzhen phone maker that has bet on robotics since 2025, with its self-developed humanoid “Lightning” winning a half marathon.
- DJI大疆创新The Shenzhen consumer-drone leader, whose portfolio also includes the RoboMaster competition and Livox lidar.
- Samsung Electronics三星电子（机器人业务）South Korea's electronics giant, which took control of Rainbow Robotics in 2025 and is investing in humanoids and physical AI.
- LG ElectronicsLG 电子A South Korean appliance giant building the home humanoid CLoiD and its AXIUM joint-actuator brand.
- Li Auto Inc.理想汽车A Beijing EV maker that announced in 2026 it will build humanoid robots, calling autonomous driving embodied AI's first act.
- GAC Group广汽集团A Guangzhou state-owned automaker that incubated Huilun Technology to build its wheel-legged GoMate humanoid robots.
- AiMOGA Robotics墨甲机器人A Chery-incubated robotics company building reception humanoids, police robots, and robot dogs, now preparing an IPO.
- An Israeli autonomous-driving chip company that announced the acquisition of humanoid-robot maker Mentee in 2026.
- An Israeli humanoid-robot company founded by Mobileye's founder, acquired by Mobileye in 2026.
13.7Arms, service, and logistics robots
Robots that were selling before the humanoid boom: common research arms, the ‘big four’ industrial makers, and service and logistics robots.
- Franka RoboticsFrankaA Munich force-controlled robot-arm maker whose Panda / FR3 arms are among the most common in robotics research.
- Universal Robots优傲机器人A Danish maker of collaborative robot arms that shipped the first commercially viable cobot; its UR5e is a lab staple.
- AgileX Robotics松灵机器人A maker of mobile robot chassis and low-cost robot arms, a common hardware supplier for embodied AI research.
- Dobot越疆科技A Shenzhen collaborative-arm maker, Hong Kong's first listed “cobot” company, now also building a humanoid.
- Agile Robots思灵机器人A Munich robot-arm and automation company spun out of the German Aerospace Center, now Franka Emika's owner.
- A US research robot-arm maker selling WidowX, ViperX, and complete ALOHA kits.
- A Canadian lightweight robot-arm maker that started with wheelchair-mounted assistive arms; its Gen3 is a common research arm.
- A Shenzhen lightweight robot-arm maker behind the xArm and uArm, taken over by Cheetah Mobile in 2025.
- RealMan Robotics睿尔曼智能A Beijing lightweight robot-arm maker whose RM-series arms are common on domestic dual-arm and wheeled humanoid platforms.
- Flexiv Robotics非夕科技A US-China robotics company building force-controlled “adaptive robots,” with its Rizon arm as the flagship product.
- JAKA Robotics节卡机器人A Shanghai collaborative-arm maker founded in 2014 whose STAR Market IPO was later terminated.
- ROKAE珞石机器人A Beijing industrial and collaborative-robot maker known for its xMate force-controlled cobot arms, now also building embodied-AI robots.
- ABB RoboticsABBA Swiss electrification and automation group, one of industrial robotics' “Big Four,” now selling its robotics unit to SoftBank.
- KUKA库卡A German industrial-robot maker, one of the “Big Four,” owned by China's Midea Group since 2017.
- FANUC发那科A Japanese giant in industrial robots and CNC systems, one of the “Big Four” of industrial robotics.
- A century-old Japanese industrial-controls company, a major maker of servo motors and MOTOMAN industrial robots.
- A Nanjing industrial-robot leader reportedly now China's top-shipping domestic maker of industrial robots.
- A long-established Chinese industrial-robot maker controlled by the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Shenyang Institute of Automation.
- A Shenzhen industrial-automation leader making servo systems, PLCs, and industrial robots.
- A Dongguan industrial-robot maker under Apple supplier Luxshare Precision, valued near RMB 10 billion in 2026.
- Pudu Robotics普渡机器人A Shenzhen commercial service-robot company with high shipment volumes in restaurant delivery and cleaning robots.
- KEENON Robotics擎朗智能A Shanghai commercial service-robot company with high delivery-robot shipment volumes, now also building humanoids.
- Geek+极智嘉A Beijing warehouse-logistics robotics company building picking and transport AMRs, now also moving into embodied AI after its Hong Kong listing.
- Youibot Robotics优艾智合A Chinese mobile-manipulation robot company mainly serving semiconductor, energy, and other factory settings.
- A US logistics-robotics company using AI dual-arm robots to load trucks and sort packages.
- A German warehouse-robotics AI company that runs picking robots on its own Cortex model.
13.8World models, simulation, and data
Moving upstream from building robots: these companies focus on world models, simulation platforms, and training data to feed the brain.
- Fei-Fei Li's spatial-intelligence startup, which builds 3D world generation; AMD announced its acquisition in September 2026.
- A Paris world-model company founded by Yann LeCun after leaving Meta, built around his JEPA approach.
- GigaAI极佳科技A Chinese AI startup that uses world models to manufacture training data for embodied foundation models.
- Lightwheel光轮智能A company building simulation assets, synthetic data, and evaluation tools for robot training, a 2026 unicorn.
- An AI lab training world models and agents on massive amounts of gameplay footage.
- A New York video-generation company that followed its Gen series with GWM-1, a world model with a robotics variant.
- A Tsinghua-linked multimodal generation company behind the Vidu video model, now extending into embodied world models.
- A US embodied-AI startup training robot skills with a mix of simulated and real-robot data.
- Sudo Technology苏度科技A Shanghai embodied-AI company betting on simulation-only training, launching the Sudo R1 robot system in 2026.
- DexForce跨维智能A Shenzhen embodied-AI company that trains robots mainly on synthetic data from generative simulation.
- A Shanghai maker of the ORCA physical-AI simulation platform, positioned as a domestic alternative to NVIDIA Isaac Sim.
- 51WORLD五一视界A Beijing digital-twin company, listed in Hong Kong, that supplies simulation scenes and synthetic data for embodied AI.
- Manycore Tech群核科技A Hangzhou spatial-design software company behind Kujiale, now also building spatial intelligence and simulation data.
- A US AI data-labeling company that supplies training data for large models and autonomous driving.
- A US embodied-data company that pays factory workers to wear head cameras and record first-person video.
13.9Core components and dexterous hands
After upstream software, upstream hardware: dexterous hands, grippers, gearboxes, lead screws, motors, joints, and controllers.
- Inspire Robots因时机器人A Beijing maker of dexterous hands and miniature electric linear actuators; its RH56 hand appears on many humanoid robots.
- Linkerbot灵心巧手A Beijing dexterous-hand company, maker of the high-DoF Linker Hand series of robot hands.
- A Shenzhen micro-transmission and micro-drive maker building dexterous hands and micro gearboxes, dual-listed A+H.
- BrainCo强脑科技A Hangzhou brain-computer-interface company that extended its smart-prosthetics work into the Revo robot hand.
- AGILINK临界点A dexterous-hand company spun out of AgiBot's own dexterous-hand division.
- A long-running British dexterous-hand company behind the Shadow Hand and the DEX-EE.
- A Canadian maker of grippers and plug-and-play accessories for collaborative robot arms.
- DH-Robotics大寰机器人A Shenzhen maker of electric grippers, also building dexterous hands and precision force-controlled actuators.
- Leaderdrive绿的谐波China's leading harmonic-reducer maker, listed on the STAR Market and now planning a Hong Kong listing.
- Laifual来福谐波A Zhejiang harmonic-reducer maker that listed in Hong Kong in June 2026.
- Nabtesco纳博特斯克A Japanese precision-reducer giant, the main supplier of RV reducers for industrial robots.
- A Hangzhou gear-making leader whose subsidiary Huandong Technology is a major Chinese RV-reducer maker.
- A Ningbo reducer and motor maker that builds planetary, RV, and harmonic reducers alike.
- RollvisRollvis（行星滚柱丝杠）A long-established Swiss maker of planetary roller screws, a key supplier for humanoid robots' linear joints.
- A Shanghai auto-chassis parts maker moving into planetary roller screws for humanoid robots.
- Tuopu Group拓普集团A Ningbo auto-parts giant transforming itself into a humanoid-robot actuator supplier.
- A leading maker of refrigeration control components that has moved into electromechanical actuators for humanoid robots.
- Schaeffler舍弗勒A German bearings and auto-parts giant now supplying joint actuators for humanoid robots.
- maxonMaxonA Swiss precision-motor maker known for coreless motors, which have driven Mars rovers.
- FAULHABER冯哈伯A German micro-motor maker, one of the original inventors and top suppliers of coreless motors.
- MOONS' Electric鸣志电器A Shanghai control-motor maker whose coreless motors are seen as key dexterous-hand components.
- Kollmorgen科尔摩根A long-established US motion-control maker whose frameless torque motors are common in robot joints.
- ZeroErr零差云控A Shenzhen maker of robot joint modules, focused on standardized, integrated eRob joints.
- A Shenzhen joint-motor maker whose DM-J4310 is a common small joint in student and open-source robots.
- RobStride灵足时代A Chinese maker of robot joint actuators whose RS-series integrated joints are common in quadrupeds and small humanoids.
- A South Korean robotics company behind DYNAMIXEL servos and the TurtleBot3, a staple in research and education.
- SEER Robotics仙工智能A Shanghai maker of mobile-robot controllers, the world's top seller by volume, listed in Hong Kong in 2026.
13.10Sensors, motion capture, and chips
Where components handle moving, this group handles seeing, touching, and computing: cameras, lidar, tactile and force sensing, mocap gear, and chips.
- A depth-camera company spun out of Intel; its D435 and D405 are staples in robotics labs.
- Orbbec奥比中光A Shenzhen maker of 3D vision sensors, and a common supplier of the depth cameras used on robots.
- PaXini Tech帕西尼感知A Shenzhen tactile-sensor company that has expanded into dexterous hands, humanoids, and embodied data.
- A Beijing maker of tactile-sensing chips and sensors, a leading Chinese supplier of touch for humanoid robots.
- Daimon Robotics戴盟机器人A Shenzhen company, incubated at HKUST, making visuotactile sensors and touch-inclusive embodied datasets.
- Weitai Robotics纬钛科技A Shanghai vision-based tactile-sensor company founded by a co-developer of the GelSight fingertip sensor.
- Xense Robotics千觉机器人A Shanghai embodied-touch company building vision-based tactile sensors, tactile data, and tactile models.
- A Japanese tactile-sensor company whose uSkin product measures both pressure and shear force.
- ATI Industrial AutomationATI 工业自动化A long-established US maker of six-axis force sensors and tool-changers for robot arms.
- A long-established Chinese six-axis force-sensor maker that also builds force-controlled polishing and automotive-test equipment.
- A Changzhou six-axis force sensor maker whose core team came from aerospace research institutes.
- A Ningbo leader in weighing sensors now moving into six-axis force sensors for robots.
- A French stereo-camera company behind the ZED line, acquired by Ouster in 2026.
- Percipio图漾科技A Shanghai maker of 3D industrial cameras that supplies depth cameras to robots and logistics equipment.
- A Beijing industrial 3D-vision and robot-intelligence company, known for its Mech-Eye camera.
- A US robot-perception company founded by veterans of Apple's Face ID team.
- Hesai Technology禾赛科技A Shanghai lidar company whose sensors are used in both cars and robots.
- RoboSense速腾聚创A Shenzhen LiDAR company, listed in Hong Kong, that has extended its automotive LiDAR technology into robot sensing.
- Livox览沃科技A lidar company incubated inside DJI; its Mid-360 is a common choice on robots.
- Adaps Photonics灵明光子A Chinese maker of SPAD single-photon sensor chips, used for dToF ranging in lidar and phones.
- An American optical motion-capture brand that robotics labs use to measure ground truth.
- A British optical motion-capture company, a common source of ground-truth pose in robotics labs.
- A Dutch maker of inertial motion-capture suits and IMUs, whose MVN suit is widely used to record human motion.
- Noitom诺亦腾A Beijing motion-capture company whose gear is used for robot teleoperation and human-motion data.
- A Dutch data-glove maker whose Metagloves are widely used for dexterous-manipulation data capture and teleoperation.
- Qualcomm高通The US chip giant that launched its Dragonwing robotics chips and acquired Arduino and PickNik.
- A US chipmaker known for CPUs, GPUs, and AI accelerators, which announced the acquisition of World Labs in 2026.
- A Beijing smart-driving chip company also building robot chips and VLA models.
- D-Robotics地瓜机器人A robot-development-platform company spun out of Horizon Robotics, making RDK boards and robot software.
13.11Research institutions and university labs
Outside the supply chain, where papers and talent come from: university labs, corporate research institutes, and China’s new research organizations.
- Stanford University's AI lab, founded in 1963, and a major center for robot learning research.
- Berkeley Artificial Intelligence Research伯克利人工智能研究实验室A joint AI lab at UC Berkeley, and a major hub for robot learning research.
- CMU Robotics Institute卡内基梅隆大学机器人研究所The world's first academic robotics department, founded in 1979 and based in Pittsburgh.
- MIT Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence LaboratoryMIT 计算机科学与人工智能实验室MIT's largest computer science and AI lab, and a long-time center of robotics research.
- ETH Zurich Robotic Systems Lab苏黎世联邦理工机器人系统实验室ETH Zurich's center for legged robots and reinforcement-learning locomotion control, birthplace of ANYmal.
- Toyota's US-based AI and robotics research arm, an early driver of diffusion policies and large behavior models.
- Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence北京智源人工智能研究院A nonprofit AI research institute in Beijing, known for large models and the open-source embodied brain model RoboBrain.
- A Shanghai AI research institute known for its open-source Intern model family and the InternVLA robotics models.
- A Tsinghua University institute led by Andrew Yao, and one of China's key sources of embodied-AI talent and startups.
- Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center北京人形机器人创新中心A Beijing humanoid robot public platform company, maker of the Tiangong robot series and open-source embodied models.
- Shanghai Qi Zhi Institute上海期智研究院A Shanghai research institute led by Andrew Yao that has incubated embodied-AI companies such as RobotEra.
- National and Local Co-built Humanoid Robotics Innovation Center (Shanghai)国家地方共建人形机器人创新中心（上海人形机器人创新中心）A national-level humanoid-robotics platform in Shanghai, China, that built the open-source humanoid robot Qinglong.
- Zhejiang Humanoid Robot Innovation Center浙江人形机器人创新中心A Ningbo-based humanoid R&D company co-founded by the Ningbo city government and Zhejiang University's Rong Xiong team.
- A Beijing research institute led by Song-Chun Zhu, focused on general and embodied artificial intelligence.
- PKU EPIC Lab北京大学 EPIC 实验室（王鹤组）He Wang's lab at Peking University for embodied perception and interaction, closely tied to Galbot.
- SJTU MVIG Lab上海交通大学 MVIG 实验室（卢策吾组）Cewu Lu's lab at Shanghai Jiao Tong University, one of China's earlier academic teams working on robot manipulation data and grasping.
- OpenDriveLab香港大学 OpenDriveLabA University of Hong Kong lab led by Hongyang Li, working on end-to-end autonomous driving and embodied AI.
- Allen Institute for AI艾伦人工智能研究所A US nonprofit AI research institute known for fully open models and embodied simulation environments.
- Robotics and AI InstituteRAI 研究所（机器人与人工智能研究所）A robotics basic-research institute led by Boston Dynamics founder Marc Raibert and funded by Hyundai.
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics德国宇航中心机器人与机电研究所The German Aerospace Center's robotics institute, creator of lightweight robot arms and the Justin humanoid.
- Florida Institute for Human and Machine CognitionIHMC（美国人机认知研究所）A nonprofit Florida research institute and a leading team in humanoid-robot walking control.
- Disney Research迪士尼研究院The Walt Disney Company's R&D arm, which uses reinforcement learning to turn animated characters into physical robots.
13.12Historic firms and industry bodies
Finally, the backdrop: notable firms that paved the way or have since exited, plus organizations behind contests, conferences, and reports.
- The Japanese automaker behind ASIMO, a pioneer of bipedal humanoid robot research.
- The US robotics research company that incubated ROS and the PR2, shut down in 2014.
- Open RoboticsOpen Robotics / 开源机器人基金会The US nonprofit that maintains ROS, Gazebo, and other open-source robotics software.
- The collaborative-robot pioneer behind Baxter and Sawyer, now defunct after several shutdowns and restarts.
- Everyday Robots (Alphabet X)Everyday RobotsA general-purpose robot project from Alphabet's X lab, shut down in 2023.
- Hanson Robotics汉森机器人A Hong Kong maker of realistic-faced humanoid robots, creator of Sophia.
- CloudMinds达闼科技An early Chinese proponent of “cloud robots,” which puts a robot's brain in the cloud.
- A US startup building affordable, open-source humanoid robots, which shut down in November 2025.
- Defense Advanced Research Projects AgencyDARPA（美国国防高级研究计划局）The US Department of Defense's frontier-research funding agency, which has run several challenges that pushed robotics and self-driving cars forward.
- National AI Industry Investment Fund国家人工智能产业投资基金A RMB 60.06 billion state-level AI industry fund set up by China's industry and finance ministries.
- IEEE Robotics and Automation SocietyIEEE 机器人与自动化学会The IEEE's robotics academic society, organizer of ICRA and other conferences and journals like T-RO.
- The global robotics industry body that publishes the annual “World Robotics” statistical report.