Xiaomi Claims Eight-Hour Humanoid Factory Trial, but Questions Remain

BEIJING -- Technology company Xiaomi says that its humanoid robots have worked for eight hours in its electric vehicle factory, sorting out automotive parts and making corrections autonomously. Nevertheless, the firm has not presented enough information to prove the readiness of the robots for industrial operations.

Xiaomi presented Nov. 3 a video of two humanoids working on sorting out center console side covers in its automotive factory. The robots picked up automotive parts from containers, delivered them and put them in storage racks.

As the company states, the robots worked for eight hours and five minutes, including charging pauses, and fulfilled all the tasks of the workstation for one day. Xiaomi also claims that the robots detected and made corrections of the errors autonomously, interacting with the production system of the factory.

This video, shortened to about six minutes and accelerated up to 100 times, does not prove these statements independently.

Xiaomi has not provided information about the quantity of parts sorted, the success rate of the process, human interventions or whether the robots managed to keep the required speed during the whole trial. Such data would be required to determine whether these machines can work effectively alongside conventional industrial automation equipment.

The recent test is preceded by previous tests carried out at Xiaomi's automotive assembly line. In March, Xiaomi stated that a humanoid successfully installed self-tapping nuts for three hours with a 90.2% efficiency rate while complying with the 76-second production cycle. By July, Xiaomi had reportedly increased the efficiency rate to 98% in the tested workstation.

Nevertheless, these results refer to another process and cannot be compared with the recent test of sorting.

Some other car manufacturers have already tested humanoids in their production lines. Thus, in 2025, BMW tested Figure AI's Figure 02 humanoid robot at its plant in South Carolina. According to auto manufacturer, the humanoid robot worked 10-hour shifts, installing more than 90,000 sheet-metal parts in about 1,250 hours of operation and helped produce more than 30,000 BMW X3 cars. The company extended its humanoid robots testing program to Germany.

The Xiaomi trial proves that the company is using humanoids on a real automotive production line, and not just in staged demonstrations. However, an eight-hour trial cannot prove anything about the productivity, reliability, or cost-effectiveness of the machines.

There has been no information released by Xiaomi regarding the possible use of robots in regular production and their costs.