Why a Chinese Robot Vacuum Company Spun Off Not One however 2 EV Brands | EUROtoday

For Chinese corporations, the guess is that decrease costs and extra AI options will persuade individuals to put on sensible glasses all day, recording their lives by means of fixed video and audio. If you decrease the worth to round $200, “people will start to use them every day,” says Brian Chen, basic supervisor of Appotronics’ innovation middle. That shift would increase apparent privateness and safety issues that each Rokid and Appotronics have acknowledged, however they see the potential payoff as well worth the threat.

From Vacuums to Cars

Several main Chinese electrical car corporations, together with Geely and Great Wall Motor, introduced their automobiles to CES, however what stole the present had been two manufacturers that nearly nobody had heard of earlier than. Nebula Next and Kosmera each confirmed off smooth, luxurious electrical sports activities automobile prototypes, neither of which can be found in the marketplace but. Both manufacturers have connections to Dreame, a number one Chinese robotic vacuum firm, however they declare to function independently from it. At CES, nevertheless, the Nebula Next and Kosmera cubicles had been tied to Dreame within the convention’s listing.

Putting apart this sophisticated company relationship, the concept of a robotic vacuum firm investing in EVs isn’t as absurd because it sounds. If something, it’s simply the most recent instance of how Chinese electronics corporations are parlaying their current manufacturing experience into making automobiles. The founding father of Roborock, one other Chinese vacuum firm, began an EV firm in 2023. Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone and residential system big, launched its first EV in 2024.

Dreame isn’t the primary and received’t be the final Chinese firm crossing over from electronics to EVs, says Lei Xing, an impartial automobile market analyst and the previous chief editor of the China Auto Review, who checked out Kosmera’s prototypes at CES with me. China’s subtle provide chain, engineering expertise, and manufacturing ecosystem make it comparatively simple for newcomers to take a shot at constructing automobiles, Xing explains, however only some will succeed. Others might find yourself extra like Apple, whose long-running automobile undertaking in the end collapsed. “Life and death will be a natural outcome,” Xing says.

Robovans Are Coming

When I went again to China final 12 months, I made positive to attempt Baidu’s robotaxi service, which is roughly on par with Alphabet’s Waymo within the US. What shocked me in China, nevertheless, was what number of autonomous parcel supply automobiles there have been roaming the identical open streets alongside my robotaxi.

Neolix is the main firm in China making each the {hardware} and software program for robovans. It says the variety of them deployed in China is rising roughly tenfold every year and reached about 10,000 in 2025. (For comparability, there’re about 2,500 Waymo automobiles working within the US.) Neolix claims to symbolize greater than 60 p.c of the market and has no main rivals globally, says Zhao You, the corporate’s govt president. Neolix introduced three of its automobiles to CES, ranging in dimension from a mini-fridge to a golf cart: tiny, windowless containers perched on outsized wheels, with no driver inside.

Neolix is keen to develop internationally and already has pilot tasks underway within the Middle East, East Asia, and Latin America. It’s eyeing the American market too. Zhao advised me he’s conscious that any self-driving firm within the US will face heavy scrutiny on points like security and information safety, however he’s hoping to work with native companions who might assist navigate compliance necessities right here. “As a tech company, working with one cloud service provider for any market is the most affordable option, but it won’t work. You have to talk to local regulators and learn which cloud providers they approve of,” Zhao says.

Generating Viral Videos

When OpenAI launched Sora 2 final 12 months, it was making an formidable guess that generative AI could be not only a instrument however a content material style sufficiently big to maintain a complete social media platform. That imaginative and prescient hasn’t absolutely materialized but, however at CES I met with two AI video corporations which are competing with OpenAI’s Sora.

Kling is the AI division of Kuaishou, a massively standard Chinese short-video platform. The Kling app and web site mixed have greater than 60 million registered customers, nearly all of which the corporate says are based mostly outdoors China. About 100 individuals attended Kling’s panel occasion at CES with the platform’s energy customers. Jason Zada, an award-winning director who made Coca-Cola’s controversial 2024 AI-generated vacation business, mentioned he lately used Kling to generate a YouTube video that includes a fire calmly burning as Santa, turkeys, astronauts, and snowmen make inexplicable appearances. Zada mentioned he created over 600 clips with Kling and pieced them collectively to make the ultimate 105-minute video. It value about $2,500 in token credit.