This Human-Like Robot Might Replace Your Coworker Soon

Xpeng is preparing to take its boldest step yet in the robotics space. Starting next year, the company aims to begin mass production of a humanoid robot called Iron. Standing 178 centimeters tall and weighing 70 kilograms, this robot is not just a sci-fi concept anymore—it is real, and it is coming fast.

Iron has 62 active degrees of freedom, which means it can mimic a wide range of human movements. According to Xpeng founder He Xiaopeng, the robot will need to learn from scratch, using human behavior as its primary model. That is why Iron will rely on Xpeng’s Turing artificial intelligence chip, which was developed entirely in-house. This chip can run 30 billion parameters simultaneously using four computational cores to manage different types of processing.

It is part of a larger vision that includes autonomous vehicles, flying cars, and other futuristic technologies, all backed by an investment of over 5 billion British pounds. That kind of commitment shows just how serious Xpeng is about becoming a leader in artificial intelligence and robotics.

Xiaopeng acknowledged that building robots has turned out to be more complex than developing cars. Unlike cars, which can still function without intelligence, robots need to be smart from the start or they are basically useless. That is why the goal is to get Iron to at least Level 3 autonomy before it enters full-scale production.

In fact, the company is already inviting factory owners to observe Iron in action and see how it might work side by side with human workers. The idea is not to replace people but to enhance productivity and efficiency. Still, the idea of a robot coworker might be a little unsettling for some.

Xiaopeng also pointed out that Iron will go through multiple iterations before it is ready for household use. But the ultimate test may come when Iron goes head-to-head with Tesla’s Optimus robot. That battle could define the next era of intelligent machines.