The founder of Zhongqing, Zhao Tongyang, shared his thoughts on an event that occurred last December at the World Robotics Conference. At that time, a video showed his own T800 robot knocking him to the ground. This clip garnered over a billion views in just one day and sparked a wave of skepticism, yet Zhao asserted that the technology had indeed reached such a level.
He explained that he intended to test the peak torque of the T800, which is 450 Newton-meters—a power comparable to a small car. Despite causing pain, he was pleased with the robot's strong physical capability.
The pursuit of extreme strength has accompanied Zhao for ten years in the field of robotics. He describes his journey as the embodiment of a 'Star Wars' fan's vision of mighty metallic warriors. Zhongqing has organized the world's first industrial humanoid fighting league—URKL, whose first match attracted over 30 million live viewers.
Zhao believes that these fights are a genuine cultural product with commercial potential comparable to the NBA or UFC. Furthermore, the company is not limited to the arena, deploying robots in factories and homes. He predicts that the 'ChatGPT moment' for embodied intelligence could arrive within three years as hardware, mind, and algorithms mature, and within about five years, humanoid robots will begin appearing in ordinary households.
According to Zhao, Zhongqing's goal is to become the 'Apple of robotics,' integrating body and mind rather than merely creating shells. Their new brain-like engine, EngineAI Awaken, is positioned as the iOS for robots, with over 60 percent of R&D focused specifically on developing this 'brain.'
Regarding cost, Zhao noted that the price of a functional humanoid, previously amounting to millions of yuan, has dropped to just over 100,000 yuan. He emphasized that the industry's true goal is achieving mass production comparable to how automakers produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles annually. He rejects the false dichotomy between body and model, asserting that perfection in body, cerebellum, and brain is necessary; to become 'Apple' in their field, the body and soul must be one.