Shanghai Targets 8,000 Humanoid Robots in Factories by 2028

Shanghai has proposed to deploy 8,000 humanoid robots in its factories by 2028 as part of a broader strategy to upgrade its manufacturing industry.  

The initiative was kicked off at the opening ceremony of the 26th China International Industry. It proposed four main projects and 19 targeted tasks to promote the development of the city's next-generation intelligent manufacturing industry.  

They have also announced plans to increase the density of industrial robots to 600 robots per 10,000 workers. These two targets are part of the overall effort to ramp up automation and AI within manufacturing.  

By 2028, the city will have implemented comprehensive coverage of smart factories in major manufacturing enterprises and have 500 high-end smart factories equipped with 8,000 humanoid robots. Additionally, it will extend AI technologies to over 2,000 manufacturing scenarios, support the development of 10 specialist large AI models, and create 300 high-end intelligent agents.  

The four projects will include upgrading manufacturing technology, equipment and services; strengthening the essential capabilities for adopting AI; developing smart factories; and creating an ecosystem of platforms, testing facilities, industrial clusters, standards and talent.  

The development of the smart factory will cover research and design, manufacturing, operations, management, product services, and supply chains. The project aims to build manufacturing systems of data and AI models that focus on applications, safety and controllability.  

In addition to technological objectives, Shanghai also has economic objectives. By 2028, it is looking to exceed 200 billion yuan in the AI-enabled intelligent manufacturing equipment industry and 100 billion yuan in the intelligent manufacturing system integration industry.