China's largest household appliance manufacturer Midea is investing 60 billion yuan ($8.7 billion) in AI and robotics over the next three years.
The sum equals the entire R&D spending of the past five years. In one fell swoop, Midea is thus doubling its research pace.
The Kuka factor
The company is not new to the robotics business. In 2017, Midea bought German robotics giant KUKA for 29.2 billion CNY (around €4 billion) and built China's largest industrial robot production base in Foshan, Guangdong.
A new robot rolls off the line there every 30 minutes, over 80,000 units so far.
In December came the next step: Miro U, a six-armed humanoid on wheels. In a washing machine factory in Wuxi, it increased efficiency in line conversions by 30%.
Entire industry follows suit
Midea is not alone. China's home appliance manufacturers are mutating into robotics companies:
Gree Electric: 2,000 self-developed industrial robots in Zhuhai factory
TCL: AI-controlled human-machine collaboration, one operator controls 384 ovens
Skyworth: AI equipment for all products from January 2026
Timing is no coincidence
Next week, Nvidia GTC 2026 starts, where new physical AI models are expected.
At the same time, Tesla is preparing the launch of Optimus Gen 3 for the second quarter.
China doesn't just want to keep up here, but dominate the market: The domestic humanoid market is expected to grow to 300 billion CNY ($43.8 billion) by 2035.
Sources: SCMP, 36kr
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