Calls for ethical home robot boundaries

UBTech Robotics recently launched the UWORLD U1 Series — a line of full-size ultra-bionic humanoid robots. HAO FEI/FOR CHINA DAILY

Industry experts and regulators have called for the healthy and orderly development of the humanoid robotics sector, particularly in the emerging field of emotional companionship robots, stressing the need to clearly define ethical boundaries.

The comments came after the China Humanoid Robotics Committee of 100 and the China Machinery Industry Federation jointly issued an initiative on Saturday to guide the development of emotional companionship humanoid robots, urging the industry to collectively practice "technology for good" and promote robust industrial growth.

The initiative comes amid rising public attention to UBTech Robotics' newly launched UWORLD U1 Series — a line of full-size ultra-bionic humanoid robots unveiled on June 30. The series includes the semi-torso U1 Lite for 119,800 yuan ($17,622), the full-body U1 Pro (169,800 yuan), and the high-dynamic U1 Ultra, available in male and female editions.

Cumulative pre-orders have exceeded 13,361 units — more than 10 times the company's total full-size humanoid sales in 2025 — with deliveries set to begin in September.

The robot features 88 degrees of freedom and a proprietary dual-pivot bionic cervical spine, covering 90 percent of basic human movements. It is equipped with an emotional large language model that recognizes over 20 fine-grained emotions with over 90 percent accuracy.

Addressing public concerns over the two- to four-hour battery life, UBTech said that this is "the industry norm for full-size humanoid robots in mass production". On pricing, the company clarified that the U1 Lite and U1 Pro target households and individuals, while the U1 Ultra is designed mainly for commercial scenarios.

UBTech founder and CEO Zhou Jian said the current pricing has a profit margin, but costs may decline with scaled production.

On ethical concerns, UBTech emphasized that its bionic robots are positioned as "emotional companionship" devices — a direction recognized and encouraged by national policies — and explicitly stated they are "not boyfriends, girlfriends or partners".

UBTech has moved to operationalize the initiative's principles ahead of industry consensus. On the launch day in June, it established an artificial intelligence and robotics technology ethics committee, appointing legal expert Yan Jianguo as its chief expert.

The company pledged to fully implement the initiative's core directives, integrating its requirements throughout every stage, from research and development and industrial design to manufacturing, promotion, sales and application deployment.

Zhou outlined a three-stage vision for human-robot symbiosis: first replacing hazardous and repetitive labor; then expanding into daily companionship services; and ultimately achieving seamless human-machine integration. "The ultimate mission of technology is to remove the chains of survival labor, allowing humans to focus on creation, passion and emotion," he said.

Michael Tam, UBTech's chief brand officer, projected that China's ultra-bionic robotics market will surge from tens of billions to the trillion-yuan level between 2026 and 2036.

Pan Helin, a member of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology's Expert Committee for Information and Communication Economy, said humanoid robots have always followed two distinct development paths.

One is the functional humanoid robot — designed for household chores and factory work. The other is the companion/bionic humanoid robot, which focuses on mimicking human facial expressions and gaits. These robots are not built for labor; their purpose is to provide emotional value. At present, these two tracks run in parallel — a robot that can offer emotional companionship cannot perform physical tasks, and a robot capable of labor lacks emotional intelligence. In the future, however, the two technologies will converge into a truly complete humanoid robot, he added.

masi@chinadaily.com.cn