In partnership with
Welcome back.
While skeptics debate whether humanoid robots are ready for real work, China just shipped hundreds of them to factory floors. UBTECH's Walker S2 robots are now moving parts, lifting boxes, and working 24-hour shifts at automotive and tech facilities. This marks the first large-scale delivery of humanoids designed to replace human workers on assembly lines.
China's Factory Robot Bet Goes Live
UBTECH Robotics confirmed mid-November that hundreds of Walker S2 humanoid robots have shipped to industrial customers. The robots stand tall with joints that move like human limbs, managing heavy items while maintaining precise finger control. Production ramped up in November, with the first batch already deployed at partner facilities.
Orders have surged past 800 million yuan as major automakers and tech firms deploy Walker S2 units for continuous industrial work. The robots can remove and replace their own battery packs within minutes without human help, cutting downtime and supporting long shifts. UBTECH says humanoids now represent 30% of company sales, up from 10% last year.
The Walker S2 costs 204,600 yuan ($28,600 USD). UBTECH's stock climbed 150% this year to 133 Hong Kong dollars. Analysts at Citi and JPMorgan rate the stock a buy with price targets above 170 HKD.
Design lesson: Self-swappable batteries solve the humanoid uptime problem. If robots can't outlast an 8-hour shift, they can't replace workers.
Hyundai Bets $3 Billion on AI Factory With 50,000 NVIDIA GPUs
Hyundai Motor Group and NVIDIA announced October 31 they're building an AI factory powered by 50,000 Blackwell GPUs to accelerate autonomous vehicles, smart factories, and robotics. The collaboration marks a shift from Hyundai adopting NVIDIA software to co-developing core physical AI technologies. The Korean government signed on to support the initiative with approximately $3 billion in investment.
The AI factory will integrate training, validation, and deployment for in-vehicle AI, autonomous driving, and factory automation into one system. Hyundai is using three NVIDIA platforms: DGX for large-scale AI training, Omniverse and Cosmos on RTX PRO Servers for digital twins and AV simulation, and DRIVE AGX Thor as the onboard AI brain for vehicles and robots.
Hyundai is testing Omniverse and Cosmos to build digital twins of regional driving environments, running simulations to validate autonomous vehicle software before road deployment. The system will enable over-the-air updates for vehicle capabilities using NVIDIA's Nemotron AI models. Plans include establishing a Physical AI Application Center and AI Technology Center in Korea.
The partnership positions Hyundai to compete with Tesla's vertical AI integration. While Tesla controls chip design through its Dojo supercomputer, Hyundai is betting on NVIDIA's platform approach to accelerate development without building proprietary silicon.
Design lesson: Vertical integration isn't the only path to AI-driven autonomy. Platform partnerships can deliver speed to market if you're willing to share the moat.
Quick Hits
Waymo expands to three new U.S. cities. The Alphabet-owned robotaxi service announced plans to deploy in Las Vegas, San Diego, and Detroit in 2026, its largest geographic expansion to date. Waymo will integrate the Zeekr RT vehicle alongside its Jaguar I-PACE fleet. TechCrunch, November 3, 2025
Perrone Robotics hits one-year milestone in Detroit. The company's CONNECT autonomous shuttle service surpassed one year of continuous operation, making it the longest-running public autonomous electric shuttle program in the U.S. The fleet uses Ford E-Transit vans equipped with Perrone's TONY and MAX autonomous technologies, operating along a 10-mile downtown route. PRNewswire, November 12, 2025
Foxconn plans humanoids for NVIDIA server production. Manufacturing giant Foxconn said it will deploy humanoid robots to build NVIDIA servers "within the next six months" at its Houston facility. The plant will be among the first to use robots powered by NVIDIA's Isaac GR00T model on production lines. Details on robot models and workforce impact remain unclear. Digital Trends, November 9, 2025
What's Buzzing
🤖 Factory Deployment: Videos of UBTECH's Walker S2 robots working assembly lines are circulating across engineering LinkedIn, with discussions focusing on battery swap systems and cost-per-unit economics. LinkedIn
🚗 AI Factory Race: Hyundai's $3B NVIDIA partnership announcement sparked debates on X about whether platform partnerships or vertical integration (Tesla's approach) will win the autonomous driving race. X/Twitter
🚖 Expansion Spree: Waymo's announcement of three new cities (Las Vegas, San Diego, Detroit) is generating buzz as the company pushes toward 1 million rides per week by end of 2026. YouTube
Startups who switch to Intercom can save up to $12,000/year
Startups who read beehiiv can receive a 90% discount on Intercom's AI-first customer service platform, plus Fin—the #1 AI agent for customer service—free for a full year.
That's like having a full-time human support agent at no cost.
What’s included?
6 Advanced Seats
Fin Copilot for free
300 Fin Resolutions per month
Who’s eligible?
Intercom’s program is for high-growth, high-potential companies that are:
Up to series A (including A)
Currently not an Intercom customer
Up to 15 employees
That's it for this week. Real deployments are accelerating while costs drop faster than projected. The humanoid market hit an inflection point in 2025.
Forward this to someone tracking physical autonomy.
— Rob