Leading Chinese tech startups unveil AI, robotics breakthroughs

China's leading tech startups are making new progress in robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) technology, unveiling innovative products that offer a glimpse into futuristic lifestyles.

During the 2025 World Internet Conference (WIC) Wuzhen Summit in Wuzhen, east China's Zhejiang Province, many Chinese tech startups have brought their latest creations to global audience. Highlights included smart glasses capable of serving as on-site tour guides.

Leading the pack of Chinese tech startups are six companies based in China's e-commerce capital of Hangzhou City in Zhejiang. Known as the "Six Little Dragons", the group includes Game Science, DeepSeek, Unitree Robotics, DEEP Robotics, BrainCo and Manycore Tech, excelling in cutting-edge fields such as artificial intelligence, robotics, gaming technology, brain-machine interface, and the metaverse.

The humanoid robots developed by Unitree Robotics have caught spectators’ attentions at the Wuzhen Summit. With continuous updates, the humanoid robots are now able to perform complicated movements such as consecutive backflips. The flexibility of the robots is making them one step closer to entering people's daily life.

At BrainCo, the latest version of the bionic hand can operate completely detached from the user. Leveraging advanced brain-machine interface technology, it allows remote control for precise and dexterous movements.

"The brain sends a signal to control the bionic hand. Then through AI algorithms, the hand interprets the actions I want to perform. It also enables remote operation of robotic hands or dexterous hands to complete tasks in hazardous environments," said Gu Yue, a research and development engineer and product experience officer at BrainCo.

The new four-legged robot dog released by DEEP Robotics this year can achieve autonomous navigation after receiving instructions, which means it no longer needs real-time remote control by humans.

The robot dog can also move at a speed of four meters per second, and can effortlessly handle obstacles like avoiding hurdles and climbing stairs.

"For example, to move from point A to point C via point B, we need to give it some instructions in advance, and then the robot dog can perform the movement automatically and do the inspections along the route. It can be used in substations, factories, and chemical plants, conducting inspection tasks in harsh indoor and outdoor environments," said He Yabiao, a technical engineer at DEEP Robotics.

Manycore Tech has launched its spatial large language model not long ago. Users now can give instructions in natural language, and the robots can use the virtual room created by the spatial AI model to understand the tasks and execute movements.

"I gave it (the robot) an instruction to fold the quilt. [With the help of this virtual room], it will understand how to navigate from the washing machine to the bed. For all the robots, they need the data like ours to assist them when performing tasks in real world," said Yu Fan, product specialist at Manycore Tech.

Meanwhile, Game Science revealed the trailer of its much-anticipated game “Black Myth: Zhong Kui” in August this year. DeepSeek has unveiled an AI model that uses visual perception to compress text input.

Leading Chinese tech startups unveil AI, robotics breakthroughs

International relations experts from Japan and some other countries warned against the rise of right-wing militarism tendencies in the Japanese government reflected in Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi's recent Taiwan-related remarks.

Critics say such blatant disregard of history and basic principles of international relations could have very dangerous impacts, damaging mutual trust Asian countries have worked hard to build and threating peace and stability in the region.

"Sanae Takaichi say that a Taiwan emergency is a Japanese emergency. This statement is very dangerous. It breaks basic principles of international law and international relations. It also interferes in China's internal affairs and try to pull Japan into a regional conflict. This work shows that some Japanese politicians are moving forward right-wing ideas and risky military thinking," said Lim Wen Jye, a senior researcher at Malaysia's Institute of Strategic Analysis and Policy Research.

"To my view, Takaichi is simply a puppet for these forces that are being activated - the old military forces, the right-wing forces in Japan," said Stephen Brawer, an international relations expert and chairman of the Belt and Road Institute in Sweden.

In Japan, scholars have stressed the importance of stable bilateral relations with China and urged the prime minister to withdraw erroneous remarks.

"From a diplomatic perspective, existing agreements between Japan and China were overturned. When Sino-Japanese relations were normalized, China's approach to Japan was to make a distinction between Japanese militarists and ordinary citizens, and not to seek reparations. However, the Japanese government must bear its due responsibility for the past," said political economist Kazuhide Uekusa.

Scholars warn against right-wing politics reflected in Japanese PM's remarks