As major robot corporations worldwide race to advance their technology, China's humanoid unicorn AgiBot has upended the market by taking the No. 1 spot in global shipments just three years after its founding. While Tesla's "Optimus" has slowed its mass-production pace, AgiBot has rolled the dice with a differentiated strategy of "humanoid popularization," unveiling the world's first robot rental platform. It is also preparing a Hong Kong listing this year.
According to recent industry reports, AgiBot surpassed a cumulative 5,000 units shipped last year to rank No. 1 worldwide. Its specific market share is estimated at 30%–39%. That puts it well ahead of domestic rivals Unitree (about 2,000 units) and UBtech (about 500 units), as well as Tesla, which reportedly produced only several hundred units.
◇ Huawei "genius youth" starts company, ranks No. 1 in mass production in three years
According to local media, AgiBot is a startup founded in Feb. 2023 by Peng Zhihui, known as Huawei's "genius youth." Investors include China's electric vehicle maker BYD, IT company Tencent, home appliance company TCL, and LG Electronics and Mirae Asset. Peng Zhihui was a core talent in artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms at Huawei, earning an annual salary of 2 million yuan (about 420 million won), and was a tech influencer with about 3 million followers. News of Peng's resignation at the end of 2022 stirred not only within Huawei but also social media (SNS).
Peng Zhihui's current title at the company is chief technology officer (CTO), and Peng directly leads technology development. Peng founded AgiBot in Feb. 2023, two months after leaving Huawei, and with robot talent who followed Peng, unveiled the first model, "Yuanzheng (远征) A1," in just six months. Over the next two years, AgiBot pursued an "ultra-short-cycle" strategy, launching six new products. By putting products on the market first, collecting data, and improving performance, AgiBot quickly narrowed the gap with U.S. companies. In fact, the A2 series, the successor to the A1 that entered full mass production in 2025, quickly emerged as a competitor to Tesla's humanoid "Optimus." All this happened three years after founding.
AgiBot's lineup consists of ▲ full-size humanoids Yuanzheng A1, A2 ▲ small humanoids Lingsi X1, X2 ▲ wheeled general-purpose humanoids Zhengling G1, G2 ▲ quadruped robots (robot dogs) D1, D2 ▲ robot hands OmniHand and OmniHand Pro. Among these, three humanoids are the flagship models. Last year, Yuanzheng and Lingsi each shipped more than 1,700 and 1,800 units, respectively, and Zhengling also produced more than 1,400 units. At an event marking 5,000 shipments, CTO Peng said, "Shipping 5,000 units means AgiBot's large-scale production system has passed a basic verification," and added, "As mass production of general-purpose Humanoid Robot accelerates, expense will fall further, creating a virtuous cycle of wider adoption and lower expense."
A robot's capabilities fall into two broad branches: the cerebellum, which governs motor skills, and the cerebrum, which underpins judgment. If AgiBot's biggest domestic rival Unitree is a "cerebellum-type" humanoid, AgiBot is a representative "cerebrum-type" humanoid. Its speed and accuracy of movement fall short of Unitree, but its judgment is superior. AgiBot has built a "data factory" to train hundreds of robots every day. AgiBot has also open-sourced its in-house robot AI model in order to absorb data from other robots using this AI model and achieve collective intelligence.
Mass production is carried out at a factory near headquarters in Shanghai. Recently, word also emerged that AgiBot is pushing to build a European factory capable of producing 2,000 units a year. Having obtained certifications for the A2 model in the three major markets of China, the United States, and Europe for the first time in the world, AgiBot is targeting production of 10,000 units this year. In the long term, it plans to build a 100,000-unit production system.
◇ Launches rental platform, takes aim at 2 trillion won market
AgiBot is not stopping at being a manufacturer that simply sells robots; through "Qingtianzu," a humanoid lending platform launched in Dec., it is pioneering the robots-as-a-service (RaaS) market. The core is to offer customized rental services for 16 use cases—such as weddings, exhibitions, and concerts—for corporations and individuals who find it burdensome to purchase high-priced robots. The goal is to onboard more than 10 robot companies worldwide in addition to its own robots.
Prices vary by model and scenario. Based on discounted rates that day, the daily rental fee ranges from a minimum of 499 yuan (about 100,000 won) to a maximum of 99,800 yuan (about 21.04 million won). The cheapest 499-yuan rental product is a "New Year's celebration" scenario, performing greeting duties and various New Year shows. Customers can choose among humanoid models A2 and X2 and robot dog D1. The most expensive scenario is robot dog sports, where customers can directly enjoy robot dog races on an off-road track with various obstacles. In addition, customers can rent robots trained for multiple scenarios, including live streaming, corporate events, and birthday celebrations.
AgiBot has deployed more than 1,000 robots with 600 service providers across 50 cities in China, and has built a logistics network capable of delivery within two days. By 2026, it plans to build an ecosystem of 400,000 customers and dominate China's robot rental market, which is expected to grow to about 2 trillion won. Qingtianzu will start with rentals in entertainment and later expand services to industrial institutional sector such as manufacturing.
Meanwhile, AgiBot, which recently reorganized its corporate structure from a limited liability company to a joint-stock company, is aiming to list on the Hong Kong stock market this year. According to Reuters and others, AgiBot plans to submit an investment prospectus early this year for an initial public offering (IPO) within the third quarter. The target valuation is reportedly HK$40 billion–HK$50 billion (about 7.5 trillion–9.4 trillion won). Recently, AgiBot also acquired equity in Shangwei Xincai, a company listed on the Shanghai Stock Exchange, becoming its largest shareholder. While some interpreted this as laying the groundwork for a backdoor listing, the company denied it, saying, "It is merely a choice to strengthen the supply chain," and added, "There are no plans for a backdoor listing."