Author | Wang Xiaojun

Editor | Chai Xuchen

Another major automotive company has entered the humanoid robot field.

Recently, BYD announced a recruitment drive for its 2025 Embodied Intelligence Research Team on its official WeChat account. The recruitment for the team includes positions such as Senior Algorithm Engineer, Senior Structural Engineer, Senior Simulation Engineer, etc., with research areas covering humanoid robots and biped robots.

This recruitment announcement by BYD is, to some extent, an official declaration of its entry into the humanoid robot field. BYD introduced that the team has currently developed products related to process technology, intelligent collaboration, intelligent mobility, and humanoid robots.

BYD is one of the auto companies that has benefited the most from the era of electrification, while in the era of intelligentization, BYD was once a follower. Since last year, BYD has invested heavily in bolstering its capabilities in smart technologies. Now, with monthly sales of 0.5 million vehicles, BYD has the ability to explore more directions in intelligentization, with humanoid robots being one of them.

At the celebration of BYD's 30th anniversary and the roll-out of its 10 millionth New energy Fund vehicle on November 18, BYD's Chairman and President Wang Chuanfu stated that they will invest 100 billion yuan in the future to develop AI and automotive integrated intelligent technology, aiming for a comprehensive upgrade towards full vehicle intelligentization.

In the previous Earnings Reports, BYD also stated that it will continue to invest in R&D for new products and actively cultivate new Businesses, improving its layout in AIDC, Industrial Robots and other sectors.

In addition to entering the field itself, BYD has also invested significantly in companies focused on embodied Robots. For instance, Ubtech, known as the "first listed company in humanoid Robots" in China, received investment from BYD early in its establishment.

Another more well-known investment is in the startup founded by the genius boy "Zhihui Jun"—Peng Zhihui, who came from Huawei, which is focused on Intelligent Machinery. In August last year, BYD invested 1.91497 million yuan for a 2.5074% share.

To some extent, the layout of humanoid Robots is another aspect of BYD's refinement of intelligence from the perspective of Intelligent Manufacturing. Nowadays, intelligence is not only "embedded" in the vehicle itself but also includes the intelligence in the car manufacturing process.

In recent years, many automotive companies emphasize the degree of intelligence in their manufacturing processes. Previously, when the Xiaomi SU7 had a longer delivery period, internet users joked that Lei Jun should go to the factory to tighten screws. Lei Jun introduced that the tightening of screws is done by Robots. In the body workshop, there are 400 Robots, and the automation rate reaches 91%.

However, the intelligent manufacturing process is also an area where BYD needs to catch up.

In BYD's manufacturing genes, the "human sea tactics" is one of the important success factors. When entering the automotive manufacturing field early on, it decomposed the automated production line into individual processes completed by humans and simple Machinery, thereby reducing costs. This also led to a significant increase in BYD's workforce, which still exceeds 0.9 million people today.

In the future, labor costs will inevitably rise, but the marginal cost of Machinery will decrease. BYD also needs to achieve cost reduction through higher levels of intelligence; especially when the entire Industry emphasizes the intelligence of manufacturing, BYD needs to catch up in this area, with humanoid Robots being an important aspect.

Currently, BYD has also activated humanoid robots in its factory, and the partner is UBTECH, which BYD previously invested in.

In October of this year, UBTECH launched the new generation industrial humanoid robot Walker S1, which has successfully entered BYD's auto factory for practical training, working in coordination with L4 level unmanned logistics vehicles, unmanned forklifts, industrial mobile robots, and Intelligent Manufacturing management systems.

Besides BYD, many automakers have previously ventured into the humanoid robot field.

According to a video released by Tesla, Tesla's humanoid robot Optimus has entered the factory to work since May this year, capable of sorting Batteries and correcting its mistakes while working.

Domestically, Xiaopeng and GAC also have humanoid robot projects.

Xiaopeng's humanoid robot was officially named Iron at this year's Xiaopeng Technology Day, featuring a bionic structure, equipped with Xiaopeng's AI Eagle Eye vision system, capable of walking naturally and supporting dialogue, and has already started working in Xiaopeng's factory.

GAC recently showcased its self-developed second-generation humanoid intelligent robot for the first time, and the research and development has now entered the third generation.

For automakers entering the humanoid robot sector, in the short term, humanoid robots can make the overall lifecycle of a car smarter, capable of tightening screws in factories and entering sales scenarios.

In the long term, humanoid robots are expected to become a new growth curve for automobile companies. For example, robots can replace humans in rescue operations in dangerous situations and can also enter home settings to care for the elderly. Just like what He Xiaopeng, the Chairman of Xiaopeng, envisioned, when people grow old, robots can change diapers.

Currently, competition in the automobile Industry is intensifying. Combining their own advantages and extending their Business into multiple dimensions has also become a consensus among many enterprises. The connection between humanoid robots and Smart Automobile makes it reasonable for automobile companies to pursue development in this field.

In the future, with the addition of humanoid robots, the "intelligence" of Smart Automobiles will also have a new definition.