BYD confirms humanoid robot development, says future sales could use dealer network Chinese EV giant BYD has officially confirmed that it is developing humanoid robots, marking the company’s most direct public statement yet on its ambitions beyond automobiles, according to First Financial. BYD Executive Vice President Li Ke said the company is already working on humanoid robots and believes the key competitive factors in the sector will be manufacturing, software, and hardware capabilities. She added that automotive AI and robotics share common technological foundations. If humanoid robots eventually become household products, BYD could distribute them through its existing dealer network. BYD sees overlap between cars and robots Li Ke said the company’s automotive AI expertise can be applied to robotics because both industries rely on perception, decision-making, motion control, software integration, and hardware engineering. Humanoid robots combine many technologies already used in modern intelligent vehicles, including sensors, electric actuators, batteries, computing platforms, and AI models. Vehicle manufacturers also possess large-scale manufacturing experience, supply-chain management capabilities, and expertise in safety-critical systems. These similarities have encouraged several Chinese automakers to explore robotics as a potential extension of their existing technology stacks. Open-platform approach discussed Li Ke said BYD could create an open platform rather than limiting itself to internally developed products. Under that approach, the company could manufacture its own robots while also cooperating with external robotics companies. Such a model would resemble BYD’s broader strategy in the automotive sector, where the company develops core technologies internally while maintaining extensive supplier and partner networks. The executive did not provide a commercialisation timeline, technical specifications, investment figures, or production targets. Chinese automakers accelerate humanoid robot efforts BYD joins a growing list of Chinese automakers entering the humanoid robotics sector. In April, we reported that Chery began online sales of a humanoid robot equipped