Cloud-powered robots

SHENZHEN-BASED robotics firm Dobot announced a strategic partnership with Tencent Cloud on Tuesday, focusing on integrating cloud computing infrastructure, enhancing edge-cloud-device collaboration. Dobot, which has shipped over 80,000 collaborative robots globally to clients including BYD, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche, Xiaomi, and Microsoft, introduced Atom in March – the world’s first full-sized humanoid robot capable of dexterous manipulation and straight-leg walking.

As the humanoid robotics race heats up, tech giants are increasingly playing roles as enablers by providing essential tools and platforms. Huawei announced a partnership with Ubtech Robotics to co-develop humanoid solutions, leveraging Huawei’s AI chips (Ascend, Kunpeng), cloud services, and large model expertise.

Meanwhile, Baidu Smart Cloud is supplying compute, large models, and simulation tools to startups like Zhiyuan, Qianxun, and Unitree.

Manus opens public registrations

MANUS AI, an AI platform, has transitioned from an invite-only model to public registration. This change follows a US$75 million funding round that valued the company at US$500 million.

The AI platform, created by a team of entrepreneurs from China, was initially launched in March with a wait-list system. The funding round was led by Benchmark Capital, a US-based firm.

Manus AI has also announced a one-time bonus of 1,000 credits for new users. Additionally, 300 credits will be added daily to free accounts, as noted on its website.

BCI milestone

CHINESE startup StairMed Technology has made notable progress in testing its invasive brain-computer interface (BCI), allowing a quadruple amputee to play racing games using only brain activity.

StairMed recently released a video showing a person controlling a computer and playing video games through the company’s brain chip. This pre-trial development positions the Shanghai-based startup as the first in China — and the second globally, after Elon Musk’s Neuralink — to launch human clinical trials of an invasive BCI, according to company sources.