China warns that a robot-shaped bubble is forming

China’s leading economic planning agency warned Thursday that a humanoid robot bubble may be forming. The alert comes amid growing concerns that a bubble in a related industry – artificial intelligence – is about to burst.

Speaking at a press conference, National Development and Reform Commission spokesman Li Zhao He said China’s humanoid robot industry needs to find a balance between “the speed of growth and the risk of bubbles.” Investment is flowing into the sector despite there being few proven use cases for robots, threatening an influx of “too similar” models as R&D funding shrinks, Lee said.

Li said that more than 150 humanoid robotics companies operate in China. More than half of them are startups or come from other industries.

The warning represents a rare warning from Beijing about an industry it has declared vital to future economic growth. Earlier this year, China specific Embodied intelligence – the technology behind humanoid robots – is a national priority.