[The Upcoming K-Robot Era]② MWC Becomes a Battleground for Chinese Robots... Moving Beyond Hardware to Robotics AI

by Lee Myeonghwan

Published 05 Mar.2026 09:16(KST)

Updated 05 Mar.2026 09:47(KST)

"We Developed the Robot's Software and AI Models Ourselves"

"Chinese Companies Joining Forces to Develop Software"

Editor's NoteRobots equipped with high-performance artificial intelligence (AI) as their brains are now able to make autonomous decisions and perform adaptive learning, making the question of "who has the smarter AI" a core factor in robotic competitiveness. While the gap in robotic hardware is narrowing, differentiation in software capabilities is becoming increasingly pronounced. This article examines the competitiveness of South Korea's robot software and explores what efforts are necessary for Korea to secure an advantage in the coming robotics era as it competes with the United States, China, and others.

On the afternoon of the 4th (local time), at the Honor exhibition hall at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 26, a humanoid robot greeted visitors at the entrance. When a visitor extended a hand, the robot responded by initiating a handshake and saying, "Nice to meet you." The humanoid robot also performed a dance with professional dancers, moving in perfect sync and delivering remarkably natural motions.

This robot is the first humanoid robot released by Honor, a company previously known mainly for manufacturing smartphones. At the exhibition, Honor showcased not only this humanoid robot but also a hand-shaped robot capable of playing rock-paper-scissors, a robot that plays Go, and a variety of other robotics products. All components of these robots were developed in-house by Honor. A representative from Honor emphasized, "Not only did we build these robots ourselves, but we also developed the software (SW) and AI models installed in them."

On the 3rd (local time), at the Fira Gran Via exhibition center in Barcelona, Spain, Honor's robot demonstrated walking at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026. 2026.3.3 Photo by Jinhyung Kang

The decision by China to highlight robots at the world's largest mobile exhibition reflects an intention to seize leadership in the physical AI market, which has become central to the latest AI trends. The aim is to reinforce not just the hardware-an area of historical strength-but also the software, such as foundation models for robots (RFM), thereby presenting an image of China as a robotics powerhouse capable of excelling in both the "brain" and the physical form of robots.

Not only Honor but other Chinese companies also put autonomous systems powered by robots at the forefront. China Mobile demonstrated a "robot restaurant" where robots, equipped with AI, could make independent decisions and perform actions. These robots operated using the Vision Language Action (VLA) model, developed in-house by China Mobile.

A robot restaurant is set up at China Mobile's booth at Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2026. Photo by Myunghwan Lee

The core of the robot restaurant concept is autonomous action. Information collected by sensors and cameras attached to the robots is analyzed by cloud-based AI, which then allows the robots to make decisions and act independently. When a visitor ordered food via a tablet PC in the exhibition hall, the robots divided the tasks among themselves-one fetched ingredients, another cooked, and another handled serving. The entire process was carried out through real-time communication among the robots, with no human intervention. This robot restaurant is actually being operated as a testbed in Hangzhou, where Chinese technology companies are clustered.

The hardware used for China Mobile's robots is the Lingxi humanoid robot, developed by Chinese robotics company AgiBot. According to industry sources, AgiBot's robot hardware technology is considered among the world's best. AgiBot, a startup founded in 2023, has significantly enhanced its physical AI capabilities by training robot models on large-scale human behavioral data. AgiBot also set up a booth at this year's MWC, displaying a variety of humanoid robots.

China's proactive development of robot models has been made possible by strong government support. The Chinese government continues to encourage the development of robots by supporting not just hardware but also the AI installed in them at the national level. A representative from China Mobile explained, "The Chinese government is providing extensive support to Chinese companies for the development of robot AI models, such as RFM," adding, "It is also common to see various Chinese companies forming alliances for the development of software for robots."

[The Upcoming K-Robot Era]② MWC Becomes a Battleground for Chinese Robots... Moving Beyond Hardware to Robotics AI

[The Upcoming K-Robot Era]② MWC Becomes a Battleground for Chinese Robots... Moving Beyond Hardware to Robotics AI

"We Developed the Robot's Software and AI Models Ourselves""Chinese Companies Joining Forces to Develop Software"

"We Developed the Robot's Software and AI Models Ourselves"

"Chinese Companies Joining Forces to Develop Software"