Humanoid Robots Raise Billions, But Factory Bosses Only Care About Cost, Cycle Time, and After-Sales Support

Last week I was debugging a collaborative robot at an automotive welding shop in East China. A few guys in suits showed up at the next station, filming a humanoid robot demo. The thing could barely stand still; it had to hold onto the wall after taking two steps. But I heard they just raised a billion yuan. While tightening screws, I chatted with their engineer for a bit. He said, 'Our goal is to replace assembly line workers.' I nearly dropped my wrench laughing—they haven't even provided a safety fence solution for a standard workstation.