China advances robotic hands with government support for embodied AI
China is racing ahead in building robotic hands that work almost like real ones, a huge step for tech.
Thanks to strong government support for "embodied AI" and world-class factories, Chinese companies are making these high-tech hands more common.
As of last year, China had registered over 1 million robotics firms, and the market for dexterous robot hands jumped to $7.4 billion from 13 billion yuan the year before.
LinkerBot makes 5,000 hands monthly
Startups like LinkerBot are all-in on robotic hands, now making about 5,000 units every month and hoping to drop prosthetic hand prices to $1,000.
Wuji Technology is creating smart gloves that collect movement data so robots can learn touch and grip, but getting robots to handle everyday objects as smoothly as humans is still a tough challenge needing smarter software.