China warns of bubble in humanoid robotics industry

China’s top economic-planning agency has warned over the risk of a bubble forming in humanoid robotics, in a rare official expression of concern about the booming sector.

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“Frontier industries have long grappled with the challenge of balancing the speed of growth against the risk of bubbles—an issue now confronting the humanoid robot sector as well,” Li Chao, spokeswoman of the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a briefing in Beijing on Thursday.

More than 150 makers of humanoid robots are operating in China and their number is still rising, Li said. The country must prevent a flood of “highly similar” models from overwhelming the market and squeezing out space for research and development, she said.