X Square Robot, a Shenzhen-based humanoid startup, secured approximately $100 million in funding led by Alibaba Group Holding (NYSE:BABA) through Alibaba Cloud in a deal that strengthens the company's expansion in the robotics market.
The latest investment brings the startup’s total funding to around $280 million across several financing rounds since launching in December 2023, X Square Robot Chief Operating Officer Yang Qian told CNBC earlier this week.
HongShan, formerly Sequoia Capital China, joined the funding round alongside Meituan, Legend Star, Legend Capital, and INCE Capital. Qian confirmed the company is already generating revenue from sales to educational institutions, hospitality venues, and senior care facilities.
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The Race to Build Tomorrow’s Household Robots
Venture capitalists are pouring unprecedented amounts into humanoid robotics as the integration of generative artificial intelligence promises to revolutionize human-machine interactions. X Square Robot exemplifies this trend, having completed eight funding rounds in less than two years of operation.
“Right now we need robots to operate and complete complex tasks autonomously,” Yang told CNBC. She emphasized that after decades of developing robots capable of only limited functions like grasping objects, the industry has recognized that AI is essential for expanding machine capabilities.
The company on Monday announced WALL-OSS, an end-to-end embodied foundation model, with code linked via GitHub and Hugging Face. The project focuses on vision-language-action alignment for manipulation tasks in real-world settings. Embodied AI here means models that perceive, reason, and act through physical systems such as robots.
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X Square's Path Toward Consumer Robotics
X Square Robot also unveiled its Quanta X2 robot, featuring 360-degree cleaning capabilities with attachable mop heads and advanced hands capable of perceiving subtle pressure changes. According to CNBC, this represents a significant step toward more human-like functionality in commercial robotics applications.
Currently, the company’s humanoid robots carry an $80,000 price tag according to research firm Humanoid Guide. Competitor Unitree offers a humanoid model for $16,000, though the advanced capabilities of that unit remain unclear. X Square Robot acknowledged it does not yet have a product ready for mass market delivery, with specific pricing determined by individual use cases, CNBC reported.
Yang expects consumer adoption to accelerate once robot prices drop to approximately $10,000, achieved primarily through hardware cost reductions. She projects this milestone is achievable within three to five years, coinciding with the X Square Robot's prediction that “robotic butlers” will become reality within the same timeframe.
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IPO Plans Signal Confidence in Market Trajectory
The startup plans to begin preparing for an initial public offering next year, though Yang noted the company has not determined the listing location. X Square Robot is already expanding internationally, with ongoing discussions with potential customers in Japan and Singapore.
Yang acknowledged that AI for robotics currently lags behind generative AI advancements in chatting and code generation. She estimates robotic AI technology will require at least 12 months to achieve ChatGPT 3.5-type capabilities, noting that “embodied AI” lacks clear benchmarks for measuring relative progress.
While X Square Robot utilizes Nvidia (NASDAQ:NVDA) chips for computing functions, other operations rely on less powerful automotive chips that can be sourced domestically within China, Yang told CNBC. This hybrid approach provides the company with supply chain flexibility as it scales operations to meet growing demand across educational, hospitality, and healthcare sectors.
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