At the 2026 World Robot Conference (WRC 2026), Xiaomi Group (SEHK: 01810) unveiled its next-generation humanoid robot, "Tie Da," marking its public exhibition debut. Standing approximately 1.70 meters tall and weighing 66 kilograms, the robot features 66 degrees of freedom across its body, with half of those concentrated in its hands.
During an interview with media outlets, Xiang Diyun, General Manager of Xiaomi Group (SEHK: 01810)'s Robotics Division, revealed that the company had already achieved fundamental engineering breakthroughs in motion control as early as 2024. "Our 50-kilogram robot can run at speeds of roughly 12 to 13 kilometers per hour," Xiang stated.
So why did the company pivot to a different direction despite achieving industry-leading motion performance? Xiang explained that this decision stems from a persistent question that Lei Jun, Xiaomi's founder, has raised since the project's inception in 2021: "What is this thing actually useful for?"
Driven by this inquiry, Xiaomi Group (SEHK: 01810) suspended all technical announcements and public communications after 2023. However, research and development investments were never reduced—they were actually increased year over year. "We stopped advancing along the running and jumping trajectory and shifted focus to developing the 'brain' and other capabilities instead," Xiang said candidly.
It wasn't until March 2024 that "Tie Da" could operate continuously for four hours on a real factory production line, achieving a 90% task success rate. Only after Lei Jun reviewed these results did he approve the robot for public display—though he still referred to it as being in its "internship period," given that it falls short of the 99% standard required for industrial applications.
Xiang further summarized three major technological iterations in the robotics industry over the past decade. From 2016 to 2020, Boston Dynamics pushed traditional model-based optimization algorithms like MPC to their limits. Between 2021 and 2023, reinforcement learning revolutionized motion control, during which Xiaomi Group (SEHK: 01810) achieved breakthroughs in walking, running, jumping, and somersaults. Since 2025, the "data-driven" paradigm powered by large models has opened a new battlefield at the "brain" level.
In Xiang's view, the true advantage of major tech companies lies in their engineering transformation capabilities. "When we identify a technology engineering paradigm and aim to convert it into mature, stable engineering products, we can invest more and apply better methods across the entire industrial engineering system." This, he emphasized, is the strategic logic behind Xiaomi Group (SEHK: 01810)'s robotics endeavors.
Xiang concluded that Xiaomi's vision is "to enable everyone to enjoy a better life through technology"—and that vision must ultimately be anchored on real production lines.
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