Embodied intelligence: After becoming a reality, it's about "realizing monetization".

In 2025, embodied intelligence caught fire, and the "Year of Mass Production" arrived simultaneously. It's not difficult to go to the site of an industrial event, enter a "Robot Innovation Center", find a few robot dogs that can do somersaults, and locate several robots that can pour water.

At the 2025 Embodied Intelligence Robot Scenario Application Ecology Forum and the Embodied Intelligence Industry Development Conference in Chenghua Economic Development Zone, Chengdu, 22 companies won the "Technology Pioneer Award" and 16 won the "Scenario Expansion Pioneer Award". The products of the award - winning enterprises cover components such as motors, visual sensors, cameras, bearings, connectors, and controllers. Meanwhile, there are humanoid robots, human - like robots, bipedal robots, and dexterous hands in various application fields.

Exhibition area of the 2025 Embodied Intelligence Robot Scenario Application Ecology Forum

Even though there are still many technical difficulties to be overcome, "building embodied intelligence robots" has become an achieved goal for many enterprises.

The exploration of sales methods has never stopped. For example, Yizhuang in Beijing announced that an embodied intelligence robot 4S store is about to open, integrating robot sales, spare parts supply, after - sales service, and information feedback. Soon, individuals or enterprises will be able to purchase robots just like buying cars.

The questions that run through the entire entrepreneurship and R & D process are: Where is the demand? Who am I going to sell to?

At the Embodied Intelligence Industry Development Conference held in Chengdu, 36Kr Sichuan noticed that the little guy with a black - and - red color scheme and a firm gait is the TRON1 Multi - form Bipedal Robot from Shenzhen - based enterprise "Zhujidongli". Its abilities such as walking, jumping, going up and down stairs, and being "un - toppable" have been tested on - site by the exhibition visitors and industry peers.

TRON1 Multi - form Bipedal Robot by Zhujidongli

According to the on - site introduction, the TRON1 Multi - form Bipedal Robot is equipped with double - point feet, bipedal feet, and double - wheel feet. The modular foot - end design allows users to replace and disassemble them at any time efficiently.

TRON1 Multi - form Bipedal Robot by Zhujidongli

"Our robot mainly solves the problem of movement. You can mount the corresponding functional kits on top of the 'legs' according to your needs," said Li Jianhui, the on - site event leader of Zhujidongli. "This bipedal robot is very suitable for scientific research and application development. It has a fully open SDK and underlying hardware interfaces, supports full - process Python, and can be equipped with robotic arms, voice interaction kits, and perception expansion kits." After preparing the basic conditions, leaving the imagination to the "buyers", Zhujidongli plans to sell the TRON1 to "peer enterprises", research institutions, and enthusiasts to be combined with other embodied intelligence modules.

TRON1 Multi - form Bipedal Robot by Zhujidongli

Li Jianhui revealed that Zhujidongli released its first - generation humanoid robot at the end of 2023 and will soon release a new - generation full - size humanoid robot. From the currently available public videos, this robot not only has basic walking ability but also can perform a variety of high - dynamic and large - amplitude anthropomorphic actions.

Founded in 2022, Zhujidongli received angel - round financing in the same year. In 2023, it completed a 200 - million - yuan Pre - A round of financing. From the second half of 2024 to February 2025, it completed a 500 - million - yuan Series A round of financing. Strategic industrial investors include Alibaba Group, China Merchants Capital, Shangqi Capital, NIO Capital, Lenovo Capital, etc. Not only is it highly regarded in the capital market, but currently, Zhujidongli has been recognized as a specialized, refined, distinctive, and innovative small and medium - sized enterprise in Shenzhen, indicating its recognized comprehensive strength.

Next to the booth is Zhejiang - based enterprise "Lingqiao Intelligence", which focuses on "dexterous hand" products. When you put your hand in front of the camera on the booth and make hand gestures, the dexterous hand exhibit on the booth will immediately imitate your actions with accurate recognition and sensitive response.

After the press conference at the end of May, Lingqiao Intelligence has launched a total of four "hand" products and the DexCap data collection system. It is understood that the first - launched product, the mass - produced version of DexHand021 can rotate a Rubik's cube in the palm and can perform 32 out of 33 functional actions of a human hand. Each finger can bear a load of up to 1 kilogram and is compatible with various mainstream robots. Recently, it newly released the 021Pro in the "five - finger" category, moving towards bionics. The new product can reproduce complex actions such as "pouring water while turning the wrist", adapt to unstructured environments, achieve full - domain perception, and stably grasp soft and fragile items.

Mass - produced version of DexHand021 by Lingqiao Intelligence

At the site, Fan Xiangru of Lingqiao Intelligence revealed that the company has recently completed a case of "invasive brain - computer interface + prosthetic limb". As expected, the service scenarios of its products are expanding to areas such as assisting the disabled and elderly care.

DexHand021 Pro by Lingqiao Intelligence

On the other hand, Lingqiao Intelligence's "three - finger" product, DexHand021S is designed for ultra - lightweight industrial - grade applications. It has more functions and more stable grasping ability compared to traditional two - finger industrial dexterous hands. It weighs only 0.62 kg and is priced in the "thousand - yuan range", aiming to become an affordable choice for the education, service, and industrial and agricultural sectors.

DexHand021 S by Lingqiao Intelligence

Announced its establishment in January 2024, Lingqiao Intelligence completed R & D, mass production, and market entry within one year and has completed the release and mass production of new products the following year. Fan Xiangru introduced that all the company's senior management members come from well - known enterprises and top - tier universities, enabling a newly - born startup team to have a clear link for result transformation.

Public information shows that the listed company Jiecang Drive is one of the shareholders of Lingqiao Intelligence and is also its production cooperation partner. Cooperating with B - end enterprises in the traditional way is one of its directions, while product diversification and the open - source nature of each product provide a foundation for Lingqiao Intelligence's retail business.

Chengdu - based enterprise "Jushen Technology" also came to the conference for exhibition. In fact, the robot dog "Lingtong" of Jushen Technology is already a familiar friend to Chengdu citizens.

In 2024, Jushen Technology's robot dog "joined the police force" and carried out daily patrols and anti - fraud propaganda in scenarios such as Tianfu Twin Towers in the Financial City, Jiaozi Avenue, and the East Railway Station. The Lingtong Plus participated in public security patrols, searching for missing persons, and prevention propaganda in Tianfu Square. It can be equipped with devices to assist the police or set a route for independent patrols, with a maximum speed of 17 kilometers per hour. At the beginning of 2025, Jushen Technology and the High - tech Zone Branch of the Chengdu Public Security Bureau reached a cooperation intention. The two parties will jointly establish a "Police Bionic Robot Laboratory" relying on the platform advantages of the Smart Police Research Institute in Chengdu High - tech Zone.

Lingtong Plus by Jushen Technology on the streets of Chengdu

Recently, Chengdu held the first - batch intelligent robot real - scene verification activities. The robot dog "Lingtong" reappeared in Tianfu Square, equipped with a net gun, a law - enforcement recorder, a loudspeaker, and a police light. It can perform non - contact inspections, real - time audio and video transmission, and remote precise control.

The humanoid robot product, Tianxingzhe 1 of Jushen Technology has a localization rate of core components exceeding 90%. Its R & D cycle is 69 days, and it plans to be mainly applied in industrial standardized environments, deeply exploring the demand for robots in fields such as inspection, handling, and assembly.

Tianxingzhe 1 by Jushen Technology

In May this year, Jushen Technology announced the completion of tens of millions of yuan in angel - round financing. Having been established for less than one year, its valuation has reached hundreds of millions of yuan. This enterprise is a direct startup team from the Robot Research Center of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. Its core members are deeply involved in international cutting - edge technologies such as whole - body motion control of robots and multi - modal perception fusion. In addition to the police field, Jushen Technology's products are also applied in many aspects such as emergency response, fire protection, and cultural tourism. "Made in Sichuan" is a bright card for Jushen Technology, and exploring cooperation with G - end and large B - end seems to be the current choice of the enterprise.

Robot dog Lingtong by Jushen Technology at the "Book - loving Event" in Chengdu

Currently, Jushen Technology has announced that it will release the emotional robot "Aiqiu EMO1" at the end of the year. The "Interactive Humanoid Robot Frontier Research Center" jointly established with Tianfu Jiangxi Laboratory has launched research on brain - computer interface integration. In the future, it may achieve mind - level human - machine interaction and explore a sales model directly targeting C - end consumers.

From the starting point of technological breakthrough to the realization of commercial implementation, enterprises in the embodied intelligence track are "showing their unique skills", jointly outlining a diverse picture of how the current embodied intelligence industry is breaking through the "monetization" dilemma: from breakthroughs in core components to whole - machine integration, from serving the B - end professional market to exploring G - end scenario applications, and even attempting to reach C - end consumers. With the accelerating technological iteration, continuous cost reduction, and the continuous "breaking through the circle" of application scenarios, embodied intelligence robots are steadily moving from laboratories and exhibition stands to factories, streets, and even families.

In this collective exploration of "who will pay the bill", the answer may gradually become clear in the continuously emerging implementation practices. Although the "monetization" path of embodied intelligence is not smooth, the direction is clear, and the pace is accelerating.

Photo sources: The site of the 2025 Embodied Intelligence Robot Scenario Application Ecology Forum, Zhujidongli, Lingqiao Intelligence, Jushen Technology.

This article is from the WeChat official account "36Kr Sichuan", author: 36Kr Sichuan. Republished by 36Kr with permission.