On the morning of April 19th, with a gunshot, the 2025 Beijing Yizhuang Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon officially began running. The 1.8-meter-high Tiangong Ultra robot made its debut and ultimately won the world's first humanoid robot half marathon race championship with a time of 2 hours, 40 minutes, and 42 seconds, creating a historic moment. A small step for robots is a big step for the development of human technology At present, humanoid robots are in a critical stage of transitioning from technological breakthroughs to commercialization, and the industrial and supply chains are increasing investment and research efforts. Xie Shaofeng, Chief Engineer of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, recently stated that "mainstream products of humanoid robots are accelerating their transformation from 'moving on stage' to 'being used in factories'. They can perform acrobatics, twist yangko, carry heavy objects, and tighten screws, accelerating their landing in manufacturing scenarios." However, this marathon also shows that there are still many shortcomings in humanoid robot technology, and the "marathon" of humanoid robot industrialization is just beginning. Industry insiders believe that just like no one would laugh at a toddler who is just starting to walk, promoting the evolution of humanoid robots from "laboratory stars" to "new quality productivity" in various industries still requires patience from all sectors of society and providing a good development environment for them. Xiong Youjun, the leader of the "Application Year" new weather engineering team and CEO of Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, said in an interview after the competition: "This competition tested the robot's motion control algorithm and other abilities, and provided a very good test and preparation for the robot's next step into factories and life service scenarios. We will continue to iterate our motion and operation abilities, so that robots can truly enter production and life." 2025 is regarded by industry insiders as the first year for the landing and application of humanoid robots. On the one hand, the aforementioned multiple humanoid robots have already become the top guests of large-scale exhibitions and forums such as Zhongguancun Forum and Canton Fair, and the intensive demand for "commercial performance" services has even ignited the second-hand rental track of humanoid robots; On the other hand, intelligent robots have also opened up more application fields, with diverse landing applications in scenarios such as intelligent inspection, unmanned retail, flexible manufacturing, and medical assistance services. Tao Qing, Director of the Operations Monitoring and Coordination Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, recently answered a question from our reporter at the regular economic data press conference held by the State Council Information Office, stating that new generation intelligent equipment such as intelligent robots are constantly developing and growing, and the application of mobile operation robots in manufacturing processes such as aerospace, semiconductors, and pharmaceuticals has exceeded a thousand units; Explosion proof industrial robots have obtained domestic and international explosion-proof certifications, and have achieved large-scale applications in manufacturing processes such as rail transit equipment and automobile production. Lu Pei, an analyst at China Galaxy Securities, believes that with the exploration of car factory training and retail scenarios, the industry scale mass production node of humanoid robots is getting closer and closer. "We believe that humanoid robots will take the lead in industrial manufacturing, warehousing and logistics, food distribution/retail, and dangerous scenarios, and then enter families. It is estimated that the shipment of humanoid robots in China is expected to reach 1.97 million units by 2035," Rupe said. An important manifestation of the acceleration of the industrialization process of humanoid robots in the industrial chain is that industry chain companies have shifted from "closely monitoring" to "taking action". With the synergistic advantages of precision manufacturing experience and supply chain, many automotive parts companies have made the field of humanoid robots a key focus, accelerating the construction of core component production capacity and investing over 10 billion yuan in total. This undoubtedly benefits the maturity of the supply chain for humanoid robots. Zhu Fangwen, Managing Partner of First Capital, stated that there is a lack of supporting manufacturers in the supply chain of humanoid robots, mainly relying on the research and development of host factories. However, applying existing industrial robots and collaborative robot components to humanoid robots also has problems such as heat generation, high energy consumption, and poor stability, which require the joint efforts of the industry chain to solve. In March, Zhongding Corporation announced its intention to invest in the construction of an intelligent robot project headquarters and a core component R&D and manufacturing center, with an estimated total investment of 1 billion yuan. Jingduan Technology plans to jointly invest with Tianjin Aimaxin to establish Jiangsu Pacific Joint Electric Drive Technology Co., Ltd., in order to accelerate the research and industrialization process in the core components of humanoid robot joints, screws, and motor drive modules. Xiaxia Precision announced that it plans to invest 1 billion yuan in Zhenhai District, Ningbo to build the "Industrialization of Core Components of Intelligent Transmission Systems and Equipment Collaborative Development and Construction Project". Xia Xia Precision's Secretary of the Board, Zhang Bojie, told reporters, "We highly value the long-term development potential of the humanoid robot industry and position it as one of the company's future core growth directions." Currently, the company has accelerated the development and industrialization of industrial robot new structure reducers through IPO fundraising projects, and this technology has a high degree of synergy with humanoid robot reducers. Junsheng Electronics stated that the company can systematically migrate its multimodal sensing technology, high reliability energy management capabilities, and lightweight material innovation accumulated in the field of intelligent vehicles to the robotics industry. However, there are still some doubts about the commercial prospects of humanoid robots at this stage. Ubiquitous recently released its financial report showing that the company achieved a gross profit of 374 million yuan in 2024, a year-on-year increase of 12.4%. Ubiquitous stated that the commercialization of humanoid robots is still in its early stages of development, but their application in the field of intelligent manufacturing has become a new high ground for global technological competition. Ubiquitous has revealed that automotive manufacturing company Dongfeng Liuqi will purchase and deploy 20 Ubiquitous industrial humanoid robots, which will be completed in the first half of 2025. This will be the world's first large-scale entry of humanoid robots into automotive factories. The half marathon of humanoid robots, which has just begun and ended, is undoubtedly a "bottom line test" for humanoid robots in real and complex environments in China. It has to some extent removed the ability "filter" of humanoid robots in past short videos, making the market more calm about the progress of the industrialization of humanoid robots. According to the competition results released by the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Economy and Information Technology, out of 20 robot participating teams, 6 teams ultimately completed the competition within the specified time, and most of the robots were operated through "remote control" rather than "intelligent operation control", requiring multiple battery and even robot replacements along the way. These real-life situations indicate that the "marathon" of industrialization of humanoid robots has just begun. Several industry insiders have told reporters that the large-scale application of humanoid robots may take another 5 years or even longer. Lu Cewu, co-founder of Feixi Technology and Qiongche Intelligence, said: "The industry needs a climbing process, but we can't predict how long the climbing process will be." Tan Tieniu, an academician of the CAS Member, believes that the field of embodied intelligence to which humanoid robots belong is not only a new frontier of interdisciplinary research, but also a new target to promote AI enabling thousands of industries. Firstly, we should de mystify the "human form" and promote the collaborative development of various forms of embodied intelligent devices. Wang Tianmiao, Honorary Director of the Robotics Research Institute at Beihang University, told reporters that embodied intelligence is not just the form of humanoid robots. In the next decade, the proportion of humanoid robots in the entire category of "artificial intelligence+robots" may only be about 10%, and more than 70% of problems may not necessarily require humanoid robots to solve. Secondly, we will strengthen the integration of software and hardware, especially to promote breakthroughs in the technology of embodied intelligent big models for the "brain". Wang Yaonan, an academician of the CAE Member, said that in order to promote the rapid progress of the humanoid robot "brain", the ability evolution of the multimodal large model is crucial, which can help the robot from "being able to move" to "being able to perceive" and "being able to make decisions". In addition, opening up real-life scenarios is also beneficial for robots to collect data, verify technology, and provide testing feedback. Han Jian, Director of the Information Technology Department of the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission and Zhongguancun Management Committee, said that the exploration of embodied intelligent application scenarios and the establishment of business models still need time. It is suggested to increase openness in batches and stages according to the maturity of the scenarios. This marathon race is the ultimate test of the robot's multiple abilities. Perhaps exposing many problems with humanoid robots, I hope everyone can view the iteration of new technologies with a more inclusive attitude. Take a small step at once and step up a big step every year, so that robots can gradually solve practical problems, "said Li Qingdu, founder of Shanghai Zhuoyide Robot Co., Ltd. (New Society)