Yao Maoqing of ZHIYUAN ROBOT: It is expected to ship thousands of units this year, and the company has entered overseas markets | The Frontline

Text | Wang Fangyu

Editor | Su Jianxun

The year 2025 is regarded by the industry as the "year of reckoning for embodied intelligence". Finding scenario implementation and promoting commercialization have become the main tasks for many embodied intelligence enterprises.

At the just - concluded World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC), the Embodied Intelligence Forum with the theme of "New Opportunities for Embodied Intelligence from a Global Perspective" was held at the conference site. Yao Maoqing, a partner of Zhipu Robotics and the president of the Embodied Business Department, gave a speech at the forum and then accepted interviews from media including 36Kr.

Yao Maoqing said that Zhipu Robotics currently has over 2,000 robots in offline mass - production, and has discovered some feasible implementation scenarios that can fully leverage the generalization ability of the large - scale model of embodied robots.

Regarding the shipment volume of Zhipu in 2025, Yao Maoqing estimated that it would reach several thousand units. The downstream application scenarios include industrial scenarios, scientific research and education scenarios, and interactive scenarios such as exhibition halls and stores. He said that Zhipu will enter the "stage of centralized commercial delivery" this year.

In July this year, Zhipu Robotics won a large order worth 78 million yuan from China Mobile, which attracted attention in the industry. According to Yao Maoqing, Zhipu's robots are mainly used in the business halls of mobile operators to perform interactive tasks such as reception and explanation. In the future, Zhipu's humanoid robots will also appear in service and reception scenarios such as hotels and banks.

During WAIC, Zhipu Robotics also joined hands with Dematic Technology to showcase the first truly data - driven embodied intelligence robot logistics operation on - site. According to Yao Maoqing, in less than a month of cooperation between Zhipu and Dematic Technology, the sorting speed of the Expedition A2 - W has been increased to one item every six seconds, which can already meet the needs of some clothing e - commerce enterprises.

Meanwhile, Yao Maoqing revealed that Zhipu has started to expand overseas. Products have been delivered overseas since this year, and there are already some layouts in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Japan, South Korea, Southeast Asia and other regions. "Due to the factor of labor cost, foreign countries are also actively embracing robots. The main scenarios include the automotive industry, the retail industry, and the service industry."

However, Yao Maoqing also admitted that due to the rapid growth of orders, Zhipu Robotics is currently facing certain challenges in delivery.

"At present, the supply chain is indeed a relatively big challenge, especially the upstream joints, reducers, etc. To achieve large - scale production while ensuring product consistency, we are still in the process of overall improvement. At this stage, the suppliers we are in contact with are generally small and medium - sized enterprises, and we are accompanying them in their growth." Yao Maoqing said.