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In Chinese data factories, workers teach humanoid robots boring tasks

7 January 2026 at 06:00
Inside a brightly lit office in Shanghai, Kim’s task for the week was to pretend he was opening the door of a microwave. Wearing a virtual reality headset and exoskeletons...

© Zhejiang Daily Press Group/ Getty Images

Humanoid robots follow technicians to learn job skills at the data collection area of an embodied AI robot innovation center on September 14, 2025 in Shaoxing, of China.

China’s most infamous ghost town is now training ground for driverless trucks

3 October 2025 at 05:00
A Chinese city that failed to attract people has become a sandbox for machines. Ordos, a coal-rich northern Chinese city that never took off after prices crashed in 2012, has...

© Frederic J. Brown/AFP/Getty Images

TO GO WITH AFP STORY 'China-economy-society-property,FEATURE' by Allison JacksonA driver approaches an intersection in Kangbashi, a district on the outskirts of Ordos, in China's Inner Mongolia on April 20, 2011. Kangbashi district offers residents "new modern" living, with tree-lined streets, shiny apartment buildings, vast parklands, restaurants and even a motor racing track. But seven years after construction workers broke ground on the arid plateau, most of the apartments appear empty and the wide streets are almost deserted -- earning Kangbashi the tag of "ghost city". AFP PHOTO/Frederic J. BROWN (Photo credit should read FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP via Getty Images)

The cold truth about EVs: Freezing weather slashes battery mileage

11 September 2025 at 05:00
Bashir Ahmad sold his wife’s gold jewelry to buy an electric three-wheeler that would revolutionize his apple business in Kashmir. Until winter arrived and killed it. On a freezing morning,...

© Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto/Getty Images

A boy pushes an e-rickshaw in a snowbound area of Rafiabad, Jammu and Kashmir, India, on January 19, 2025. (Photo by Nasir Kachroo/NurPhoto via Getty Images)

Silicon Valley led the quest for driverless cars. But Chinese robotaxis are catching up fast

9 June 2025 at 05:00
Chinese and American companies have long led the costly endeavor of developing autonomous ride-hailing services. Now, robotaxi firms are taking the competition global.  The Alphabet-owned Waymo, which launched the world’s...

© Kevin Frayer/Getty Images

A “safety driver” sits in Baidu’s Apollo robotaxi at the Apollo Park in Beijing, China.

The trade war is delaying the future of humanoid robot workers

8 May 2025 at 05:00
As viral clips of robots doing flips, kung-fu, and running a marathon rack up views online, U.S. and Chinese firms are locked in a more high-stakes race: deploying humanoid robots...

© Florence Lo/Reuters/Redux

An employee works on a desk near displays of humanoid robot parts, at the office of developer Ex-Robots in Dalian, Liaoning province, China June 6, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo
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