- What began as scattered discussions quickly evolved into trending topics across Chinese social media.
- Xpeng CEO shared a video today showcasing details of this new-generation Iron.
Xpeng (NYSE: XPEV) unveiled its next-generation Iron humanoid robot at yesterday's 2025 AI Day. It looked so lifelike that many questioned whether the company had hidden a real person inside the demonstration prototype.
The questioning started as scattered discussions but quickly evolved into trending topics on Chinese social media, forcing Xpeng management to respond.
Xpeng's female Iron humanoid robot wowed the live audience with a catwalk appearance at yesterday's tech day event, but unexpectedly, over half of online comments questioned whether a real person was hidden inside, the company's chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng said today on Weibo.
"This truly leaves our robotics team both delighted and amused. Some people just can't believe how fast the world is changing," he wrote on Weibo.
He shared an unedited video on Weibo demonstrating that the new-generation Iron is indeed a robot.
"Tesla's robot can't walk this smoothly -- there's no way this is possible," said a social media user comment shared by Mr. He in the video.
He explained in the video that standing next to Iron he could hear some wind noise due to internal cooling.
He also showcased the humanoid robot's hand details and the microphone array positioned near its ears.
The new Iron model is roughly the same size as the first-generation product unveiled at Xpeng's 2024 AI Day last November, but features a humanoid spine, bionic muscles, flexible skin, and a 3D curved display on its head.
Powered by Xpeng's second-generation VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model, it incorporates three in-house developed Turing AI chips delivering 2250 TOPS of computing power.
The humanoid robot achieves advanced capabilities like conversation, walking, and interaction through Xpeng's AI technology, the company said yesterday.
Xpeng aims to achieve mass production of advanced robots by the end of 2026.
