Spirit AI could boost humanoid robot intelligence by mid-2027
Chinese startup Spirit AI could make humanoid robots way smarter by mid-2027.
Co-founder and chief scientist of Spirit AI Gao Yang, an assistant professor of robotics at Tsinghua University, says its big focus is on boosting how these robots think and learn, something that has held them back from being useful at home so far.
Right now, its bots work well in structured living-room environments (about a 90% success rate), but real-world smarts are the next step.
Spirit AI sends 1,000 data contractors
Instead of just using virtual simulations, Spirit AI sends out about 1,000 contractors across China to collect real-life data, like recording people opening fridges, to help train its robots.
Gao Yang, co-founder and chief scientist of Spirit AI, expects, "The next one to two years mark the initial window for industrial applications." then move on to tougher tasks.
Since launching in 2024, Spirit AI has raised over $670 million and has tens of its own Moz1 wheeled humanoid robots deployed on production lines at battery maker CATL and retailer JD.com, which is also an investor.