The richest man of the new energy vehicle startups worth 48 billion yuan unleashes a "killer move", which even impresses Elon Musk.

A female-shaped robot walking with a flexible catwalk made He Xiaopeng, the founder of XPeng Motors, stand firmly in the spotlight.

After successively hyping up XPeng's first Robotaxi autonomous vehicle and the first extended-range vehicle, the XPeng X9, He Xiaopeng dropped a bombshell at the 2025 XPeng Technology Day - the brand-new humanoid robot, IRON.

When netizens saw this robot released by XPeng, they were instantly stunned by its lifelike appearance and lively movements. Some netizens even exclaimed, "This is simply a reenactment of the TV series Westworld."

Elon Musk, the world's richest man and a peer of He Xiaopeng, couldn't help but praise this robot after seeing it. He also said, "Tesla and Chinese companies will dominate the market. I have great respect for Chinese competitors. There are many smart and hardworking people in China."

However, amidst the praise, some netizens raised doubts. Looking at IRON walking with a highly human-like gait, they couldn't help but wonder if there was a real person inside the robot.

Facing the outside doubts, He Xiaopeng quickly clarified the situation. He even cut open the "skin and muscles" of IRON while it was powered on to prove its authenticity.

In fact, He Xiaopeng, who made XPeng Motors stand out in the new energy vehicle field, also has an ambitious "flying dream." After the "Land Aircraft Carrier," XPeng HT Aero released the brand-new all-tilt hybrid-electric flying car, the A868, designed for multi-person low-altitude and efficient travel.

Behind these successive major strategic layouts is He Xiaopeng's comprehensive upgrade of XPeng's positioning - "An explorer of mobility in the physical AI world and a global embodied intelligence company."

Turning our attention back to XPeng's core business, in October this year, XPeng delivered 42,000 new vehicles, setting a new monthly delivery record. In the first ten months of this year, XPeng's total delivery volume exceeded 350,000 vehicles, a year-on-year increase of over 190%.

Considering that the company's net loss in the first half of this year has significantly narrowed to 1.14 billion yuan, XPeng Motors, which has been mired in losses for years, finally sees the dawn of profitability.

It's worth mentioning that in the newly released Hurun Rich List 2025, He Xiaopeng, with a fortune of 48 billion yuan, successfully surpassed Li Xiang, the founder of Li Auto, to become the new richest person among new energy vehicle startups (since Xiaomi Group's mobile phone and other businesses account for a relatively high proportion, Lei Jun is temporarily not included in the wealth comparison of this camp).

The Female Robot Stuns the Audience, and He Xiaopeng Proves Himself Twice

On November 5th, the 2025 XPeng Technology Day with the theme of "Emergence" was successfully held at the XPeng Science Park in Guangzhou.

At this press conference, XPeng Motors released four core achievements around "Physical AI": the second-generation XPeng VLA large model, XPeng Robotaxi, the brand-new XPeng humanoid robot IRON, and two flight systems of XPeng HT Aero.

Throughout the press conference, the most eye-catching was the brand-new IRON humanoid robot. This so-called "most human-like humanoid robot" instantly became the focus of the event as soon as it appeared. The female robot's natural and smooth walking gait, which is extremely close to that of a real person, amazed many people.

According to Radar Finance, IRON has a "skeleton - muscle - skin" structure: a humanoid spine, bionic muscles, fully covered flexible skin, a 3D curved display on the head, bionic and flexible shoulders, and a dexterous hand with 22 degrees of freedom.

Meanwhile, IRON is equipped with a large model for the physical world and three Turing AI chips, building a high-order combination of "VLT + VLA + VLM" capabilities for the "higher brain" and "lower brain," enabling high-order intelligence such as conversation, walking, and interaction.

He Xiaopeng revealed that the final mass-produced version of the brand-new IRON robot is expected to be very similar to the showcased product. XPeng aims to achieve large-scale mass production of humanoid robots by the end of 2026, becoming one of the first, or even the first, Chinese companies to mass-produce high-order humanoid robots.

According to Jiemian News, Lens Technology, led by Zhou Qunfei, the richest woman in Hunan, is currently supplying the head mask, dexterous hand, and metal structural parts of the XPeng robot.

In terms of commercialization, the brand-new IRON will first enter commercial scenarios such as guiding tours, product sales, and security patrols. Baosteel has confirmed to be an ecological partner and will explore applications in complex fields such as inspection in its industrial scenarios in the future.

However, while the female robot's graceful catwalk stunned everyone, it also inevitably raised many doubts. Some netizens wondered if there was a real person inside the robot.

The next day, He Xiaopeng specially released a one-shot video to restore the whole process of the robot walking the catwalk. He also asked the robot team to unzip the back of the robot and show a video of its internal structure.

He Xiaopeng said frankly, "The outside reaction'really makes our robot team both happy and a bit not knowing whether to laugh or cry. There are always people who don't believe that the world is changing so fast. This morning, they forced me to shoot a one-shot, unedited video to respond to this doubt. I hope everyone can distinguish the truth and help us clarify the situation.'"

At the XPeng X9 Kunpeng Super Extended-Range Technology press conference that evening, He Xiaopeng invited IRON to appear again. During the live broadcast, the staff cut open the outer layer and "muscles" of IRON on-site, showing the audience its internal metal skeleton, hydraulic pipes, and other mechanical structures.

"I hope this is the last time we have to prove that the robot is itself," He Xiaopeng even choked with emotion at the press conference and said, "We don't have the ability to dispel all doubts. The only thing we can do is to keep moving forward."

Continuously Investing in Physical AI, He Xiaopeng Unleashes "Killer Moves"

In addition to the stunning female robot, He Xiaopeng also brought many surprises to the outside world at the 2025 XPeng Technology Day event.

First, there is the second-generation VLA (Visual-Language-Action Model) large model. Different from the traditional "visual - language - action" architecture of VLA models, it can directly output action instructions from visual signals in an end-to-end manner without language translation.

He Xiaopeng also announced that the second-generation XPeng VLA large model will be open-sourced to global business partners. Volkswagen has become the first strategic partner for the second-generation XPeng VLA. Meanwhile, XPeng's Turing AI chip has received a fixed-point from Volkswagen.

Second, XPeng also publicly announced its entry into the Robotaxi driverless taxi field and will cooperate with AutoNavi. The company plans to launch three Robotaxi models in 2026.

Finally, the new member of the XPeng HT Aero flying car system - the all-tilt fixed-wing flying car A868 - made a grand appearance.

It is reported that the A868 uses a hybrid system, with a nominal range of over 500 km and a maximum speed of over 360 km/h. It can carry six people and takes off vertically without the need for a runway.

In fact, in recent years, the "low-altitude economy" has emerged as a rising star. Its broad prospects are widely optimistically regarded by the outside world, and its industrial value and strategic position have also been confirmed at the policy level.

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