Center for a New American Security Fellow: ‘It Would Be Foolish to Ignore’ China’s Advances in Humanoid Robot Development

China's development of humanoid robots could potentially support its military ambitions, according to Bill Drexel, a fellow at the Center for a New American Security. Although China's progress in robotics currently lags behind Western countries, Drexel suggests that China could eventually surpass them. He shared his insights on October 21.

"Chinese companies' commercial ambitions in the space are ultimately inseparable from the PRC's military ambitions, given CCP's insistence that Chinese industry stay subordinate to the Chinese government's will," said Drexel. "With some Chinese military experts calling for the use of humanoid robots in conflict, it would be foolish to ignore the country's progress towards developing these capabilities. That said, military-grade humanoid robots for use in combat or other military activities are likely ways away for now, and the quality of Chinese humanoid robots generally lags that of Western equivalents at present. But China has pulled ahead in other high-tech areas before, such as electric vehicles and social media apps, and could plausibly do so in robotics as well, particularly given their economic incentives to automate their economic activity due to their aging population."

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