China’s Humanoid Robots Are Walking Off The Assembly Line On Their Own

Tesla revealed its Cybercab concept back in 2024, only to have thousands of Waymo vehicles flooding cities across the United States before even one Cybercab rolled off the assembly line. Tesla then converted its Fremont, California factory — which also produces the Model 3 and Model Y — into a factory for its humanoid robot, Optimus, which is still nowhere to be seen — and Chinese automaker Xpeng has its own humanoid robot, Iron, walking off the assembly line. Literally. 

With this small step for robot kind, Xpeng has now completed production of the world’s first “advanced general-purpose humanoid robot,” according to a press release. The manufacturing system itself was also 80% autonomous, focused on consistent, fast-paced mass production, with the goal of scaling it up and expanding. The robots are currently expected to be mass-produced by the end of 2026, with launch and delivery following in 2027. During Tesla’s “We, Robot” event back in 2024, Optimus was revealed to be controlled by humans, but CEO Elon Musk still claims that the $20,000 to $30,000 robots will be delivered by 2027 as well. 

Xpeng’s Iron humanoid robot is designed to fit into the real world, with CEO He Xiaopeng stating that he expects Iron to become “part of everyday life” – improving people’s lives while becoming their companion. Iron is meant to do a variety of tasks that people may not want to do, including factory work or making a morning coffee. To complete these tasks, Iron has three AI chips for a plethora of computing power, along with human-like dexterity and mobility. Xpeng claims that Iron is already assisting in its own manufacturing process, which would mean it has come a long way since its tech demos back in 2025 (Iron also appears less “naked” now as well)

You won’t find many specific details on the official Iron page on Xpeng’s website, which may not be instilling investors with the utmost confidence in the automaker. Xpeng’s stock is down nearly 50% in the first half of 2026. It’s not only Xpeng and Tesla competing to launch a humanoid robot by 2027 — other companies are also working on their own creations (with varying degrees of creepiness), and China continues to lead the way in this mysterious new technology frontier.