The man favored by He Xiaopeng and Liu Qiangdong was knocked down by his own robot.
With a "howl," Zhao Tongyang, the CEO of Zhongqing Robotics, was kicked to the ground by his own robot, the Zhongqing T800.
This is not the robot "uprising" in the movie "Terminator," but a "fun - style" response from Zhongqing Robotics to netizens' doubts.
Zhao Tongyang, who was "kicked down" by his own robot this time, is a veteran in the robot industry. Previously, he served as the president of PX Robotics, a subsidiary of XPeng.
In 2023, Zhao Tongyang left PX Robotics to start his own business independently. Now, he and his "benefactor" He Xiaopeng will compete in the humanoid robot track.
In fact, behind this eye - catching kick is the confidence of Zhongqing Robotics, which has received 7 rounds of financing in two years and has more than 5 billion yuan in the account. At present, many capitals are turning their attention to this potential trillion - level market, trying to get a share in this emerging field.
However, some viewpoints point out that the current embodied intelligence field is still in the early stage of industrialization. Humanoid robots still face many pain points that need to be solved urgently in terms of core technology maturity and cost - performance balance.
Driven by the strong wave of AI, the embodied intelligence track is highly favored and pursued by capitals. However, industry participants still need to rationally recognize their own positions and focus on technological breakthroughs and commercial implementation.
Zhongqing Robotics Kicks Down Its Own CEO with One Kick
On December 6th, Zhongqing Robotics officially released a test video of its robot product. Different from the past, the "test subject" this time was Zhao Tongyang, the CEO of Zhongqing Robotics.
In the video, encouraged by the employees, Zhao Tongyang readily decided to "confront" his own robot head - on. However, even after wearing thick protective gear, Zhao Tongyang was still kicked to the ground by the robot with one kick.
After being helped up by the crowd, Zhao Tongyang exclaimed, "It's so violent, so brutal." Without the protective gear, no one could withstand that kick, and he would definitely break a bone. He also joked that there would be another test, but he couldn't guarantee that he would still be alive after the test.
According to Leida Finance, the robot that can flexibly punch and kick in the video and even complete an aerial spinning kick is the humanoid robot Zhongqing T800, whose official promotional video was just released by Zhongqing Robotics a few days ago.
At that time, many netizens left messages doubting the authenticity of the promotional video. They thought that the robot's movements in the video were too smooth and had a strong sense of CG.
In response, Zhongqing Robotics released the shooting behind - the - scenes of the video to prove itself, and this time it even pulled in the company's boss for a personal "test."
Zhongqing Robotics said that the Zhongqing T800 takes "reconstructing the boundary of human - robot collaboration" as its core design goal, and has achieved more than 80% performance improvement over the male group of the same 1.7 - meter height in the two core dimensions of physical output and flexible control.
More groundbreakingly, its comprehensive operating cost is only 1/3 of the labor cost, building a high - cost - performance commercial core barrier and laying a solid foundation for full - scale scenario implementation.
According to Leida Finance's information from the official website of Zhongqing Robotics, the application scope of the Zhongqing T800 covers a series of scenarios such as logistics warehousing, hotel services, store shopping guides, and factory collaboration.
At the Cultural and Technological Roadshow Special Session of the 2025 Guangdong - Hong Kong - Macao Greater Bay Area Cultural Industry Investment Conference, Zhao Tongyang said that the T800 will be positioned for actual labor - scene applications and is the company's first "working robot" designed for production operations.
According to Zhao Tongyang, the T800 has significantly strengthened its load - bearing capacity and operation stability, "aiming to truly improve labor efficiency." The company's target sales volume by 2027 is 10,000 to 20,000 units.
The Zhongqing team revealed that in the future, the company will comprehensively promote product scenario verification and large - scale implementation, and continuously unlock diverse application scenarios such as industrial production, commercial services, and family companionship.
The Former Head of PX Robotics Competes with He Xiaopeng on the Same Stage
History is always surprisingly similar. This set of smooth operations of "releasing a promotional video, being questioned, and then proving oneself" almost perfectly replicates the popularization path of XPeng's new - generation IRON humanoid robot some time ago.
At the XPeng Technology Day in early November, the realistic appearance and flexible movements of the IRON humanoid robot went viral on the Internet. Some netizens even suspected that there was a real person inside.
In the face of doubts, He Xiaopeng, the helmsman of XPeng Motors, specially released a one - take - shot video to restore the whole process of the robot walking in a catwalk, and also asked the staff to unzip the back of the robot to show its internal structure.
At the subsequent live - broadcast press conference, He Xiaopeng invited the IRON to appear again, and also asked the staff to cut open the robot's outer layer and "muscles" on the spot to show the audience its internal mechanical structures such as the metal skeleton and hydraulic pipes.
"I hope this is the last time to prove that the robot is itself," He Xiaopeng even choked with emotion at the press conference site. "We don't have the ability to dispel all doubts. The only thing we can do is to keep running."
Leida Finance noticed that coincidentally, the Zhongqing Robotics, which has become popular for kicking down its boss, has a special relationship between its CEO Zhao Tongyang and XPeng's robots.
According to Tianyancha, Shenzhen Zhongqing Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. was established in 2023. Before founding Zhongqing Robotics, Zhao Tongyang was the president of PX Robotics, an affiliated company of XPeng's robots.
According to public reports, after graduating from university in 2012, Zhao Tongyang started an Internet - of - Things business. At that time, he wanted to raise funds for his future robot business.
After two consecutive failures in running robot companies, Zhao Tongyang registered a third robot company, Shenzhen Duogou Robotics Technology Co., Ltd., in 2019.
Under Zhao Tongyang's leadership, Duogou Robotics successfully developed a product comparable to the "Boston Dynamics Spot," but its price was less than one - tenth of the latter.
This successfully attracted He Xiaopeng's attention. In 2020, XPeng Motors acquired Duogou Robotics and established PX Robotics, with Zhao Tongyang serving as the general manager.
It is worth mentioning that at that time, XPeng Motors was on the eve of its Hong Kong IPO, and He Xiaopeng was carefully planning the company's second - growth curve. In addition to robots, He Xiaopeng also hit it off with Zhao Deli of HT Aero that year and built XPeng HT Aero into an ecological enterprise of XPeng Motors.
Let's turn our attention back to Zhao Tongyang. After joining XPeng, PX Robotics gradually grew into a team of more than 300 people. In 2023, Zhao Tongyang led the team to develop XPeng's first bipedal humanoid robot, the PX5.
However, after three years of running - in, Zhao Tongyang believed that although large platforms have abundant financial and human resources, their operating systems are relatively complex, and the R & D rhythm will be somewhat restricted.
At the same time, in Zhao Tongyang's view, the traditional automobile industry has established a set of mature and stable strategies, while humanoid robots need to quickly explore and innovate and quickly iterate products, just like when the Internet and new - energy vehicle industries were just emerging. The opportunity is rare.
Seeing the rapid progress of Tesla's humanoid robots, which can be iterated every 3 to 6 months, Zhao Tongyang, who has a dream of robots, felt extremely anxious.
Finally, Zhao Tongyang chose to leave PX Robotics, which he founded himself, and embarked on the entrepreneurial path again. In order to maintain his independence, Zhao Tongyang did not choose to cash out his shares in PX Robotics. The start - up capital for his Zhongqing Robotics came from his savings in previous years.
However, in a subsequent interview, Zhao Tongyang was full of gratitude to He Xiaopeng, saying that He Xiaopeng was a benefactor in his life.
Zhao Tongyang also admitted, "My experience at XPeng Motors has been very helpful for my subsequent entrepreneurship. I learned how to operate and manage a company and have a more systematic understanding. I'm very grateful to He Xiaopeng for his high standards and strict requirements at that time."
Frequently Favored by Capitals, Aiming at the Trillion - Level Market
Although it has only been established for a little over two years, Zhongqing Robotics is quite favored by capitals. According to Tianyancha, as of now, Zhongqing Robotics has received 7 rounds of financing, and the cumulative financing in the Pre - A++ and A1 rounds reached 1 billion yuan.
Just two days after the Zhongqing T800 "kicked down the boss," on December 8th, Zhongqing officially announced the completion of the A1+ and A2 rounds of financing.
Looking back at the past financing rounds of Zhongqing Robotics, the list of investors behind it is quite luxurious. In addition to Xinghang Capital, which was initiated and established by XPeng Motors as the cornerstone investor, there are also many other investors such as JD.com, Puquan Capital under CATL, and Intime Group.
According to Zhao Tongyang, the cooperation between Zhongqing and JD.com is quite in - depth. In addition to integrating JD.com's large models (such as the Yanxi large model) in technology, Zhongqing Robotics is also deeply exploring and integrating with JD.com's platform and its supply - chain system in terms of sales channels and application scenarios. In the future, Zhongqing robots may be used in the latter's warehouse sorting and last - mile delivery.
As for CATL, Zhongqing Robotics forms a complementary relationship with it. "They can provide us with energy solutions, industry knowledge, and application - scenario support, while we help them solve specific technology - implementation problems."
It is worth mentioning that when asked by the media about the financial situation of Zhongqing Robotics, Zhao Tongyang said bluntly, "When a humanoid - robot company doesn't have 5 billion yuan in the account, you have to be very careful. Unless you're just doing something small - scale."
In fact, the reason why capitals favor Zhongqing Robotics so much lies in their optimism about the broad prospects of the humanoid - robot track.
According to the "Research Report on the Humanoid - Robot Industry" released at the 2024 First China Humanoid - Robot Industry Conference, it is estimated that the market size of humanoid robots in China will be about 5.3 billion yuan in 2025, doubling compared with 2024.
By 2029, the market size of humanoid robots in China may reach 75 billion yuan, accounting for 32.7% of the world's total, ranking first in the world; by 2035, it is expected to reach 300 billion yuan.
Facing this potential trillion - level market, capitals can hardly resist the temptation. According to Tianyancha, among the leading camp of embodied - intelligence start - up companies, after 10 rounds of financing, the valuation of Unitree Robotics has soared to 12 billion yuan.
After completing the Series B financing in March this year, the valuation of Zhipu Robotics, where the "genius teenager" Peng Zhihui serves as the co - founder, president, and CTO, has also reached 15 billion yuan.
Affected by the entry of Zhipu Robotics, the market value of A - share listed company Shangwei New Materials has skyrocketed more than ten times compared with the beginning of the year, reaching more than 40 billion yuan.
However, behind the prosperous and high - speed development of the industry, whether embodied - intelligence companies can truly support such high valuations has also sparked extensive discussions in the outside world.
Some analyses point out that embodied intelligence can be understood to some extent as the concept of "robot + AI." Affected by the current "AI frenzy," there may be a certain "bubble."
For example, Altman, the CEO of OpenAI, once publicly said that investors are in an over - excited stage about AI. "Some people will lose a lot of money, and some people will make a fortune."
In response, Zhao Tongyang is quite confident. "This wave will soon recede, and then we'll be able to see who's swimming naked."
In the increasingly competitive robot track, can Zhao Tongyang and his self - founded Zhongqing Robotics be the last ones to laugh? Leida Finance will continue to pay attention.
This article is from the WeChat official account "Leida Finance." The author is Editor X. It is published by 36Kr with authorization.