The race for humanoid robots is heating up, and China has just upped the ante. While Tesla continues to promise revolutions with its Optimus (which still struggles to walk without tripping), XPENG has quietly unveiled a creature that could redefine our relationship with machines. The XPeng humanoid robot Iron, recently updated, is not just an exercise in style: 1,73 meters tall and weighing 70 kilograms, it has almost perfect human proportions, including hands with a 1:1 ratio and 22 degrees of freedom.
But it is under its synthetic skin that the real breakthrough lies: a chip with processing power that would make your computer pale. Oh. I forgot: it is already at work in the XPENG factories.
XPeng Iron, a robotic brain that “thinks” a bit like us
We are not talking, as you will have understood, of the usual industrial robot programmed to always repeat the same movements. Iron is equipped with the proprietary “Turing AI” chip and the “Tianji AIOS” software system which together provide high-level intelligence for perception, movement and interaction. The processing power of 3.000 TOPS (trillion operations per second) is not just a random number: it allows XPeng Iron to process AI models with 30 billion parameters and complete over 2.700 functional verifications in just 40 days, three times faster than the industry standard.
It’s like having a supercomputer encased in a humanoid body. And that allows it to think, adapt, and respond to a variety of tasks with human-like flexibility and decision-making.
The eyes that see everything
A powerful brain is of little use without sharp senses. That’s where Iron’s “Eagle Eye” visual system comes in, powered by advanced cameras that provide precise awareness of the environment and decision-making capabilities.
It also features a 720° AI vision system which is also found in XPENG's autonomous driving technology.
This 360-degree view, combined with the dexterity provided by the customized high-degree-of-freedom robotic hands, allows the XPeng Iron to move and interact with its environment in a surprisingly natural and fluid way.
A personal assistant, not just a worker
What makes Iron particularly interesting (and scary for competitors) is XPENG’s vision for its future. The company doesn’t just see Iron as a robotic worker for its production lines; it envisions it as a personal assistant capable of handling administrative tasks and customer service in retail spaces, offices, and even our homes.
This is where the challenge to Tesla becomes explicit. While Musk's company continues to focus primarily on industrial applications for its Optimus, XPENG is already thinking about how to bring Iron into our daily lives.
There is no shortage of criticism, with some observers noting similarities between Iron’s design and that of other existing robotic platforms. Let's put it this way: if imitations are the sincerest form of flattery, perhaps we should see these similarities as an attempt to standardize an industry still in its infancy.
The real question, instead, is: are we ready to welcome these metal assistants into our homes? XPENG seems to think so, and is doing everything it can to ensure that Iron is the first to cross that threshold.
