Humanoid Robots and Artificial Intelligence Strategy in China's Military Modernization

Chinese military experts predict that the tasks to be undertaken by humanoid robots will evolve from support roles directly to main combat activities over time.

The Chinese People's Liberation Army Eastern Front Command published a video produced by artificial intelligence in December.

The images depicted the moments when military robots broke through Taiwan's defense lines in a possible future conflict.

Chuo-Ming Chou, an expert at Taiwan's National Defense and Security Research Institute, stated that advances in balance, perception and endurance can make humanoid robots effective in confined spaces such as buildings, tunnels and the interiors of ships.

"They have two arms and two legs; theoretically, they can combine mobility, climbing and manipulation of objects," Chou commented.

A rapid growth is also observed on the commercial side of the sector.

The executive of humanoid robot maker Unitree raised $13 billion in the company's initial public offering.

Previously, The Economist magazine wrote that the humanoid robot industry in China plans to launch hundreds of thousands of expensive but still limited practical useful devices over the next few years, with the aim of producing cheap and functional models in the future.

Morgan Stanley data also reveals that China could sell approximately 450 thousand robots per year by 2030.

In the evaluation broadcast on the CCTV channel after the meeting of the Political Bureau of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, it was emphasized that Beijing aims to modernize its national defense and armed forces in the face of "unprecedented changes in the world".

President Xi Jinping stated at the meeting that the army should accelerate military modernization by expanding the use of unmanned and intelligent technologies, developing networked information systems and increasing combat power.

In the month immediately following these statements, the Chinese Air Force activated an artificial intelligence-based system in the planning of operations in which more than a hundred units participated.