Beijing hosts humanoid robot competition and launches new AI manufacturing platform

Beijing is hosting a global competition for humanoid robots, inviting international teams to participate. The city also launched its first pilot manufacturing platform specifically designed for building these advanced robots.

Separately, the Chinese tech giant Alibaba announced a major new investment of $431 million to push its artificial intelligence technology, particularly for chatbots, during the Lunar New Year period. The company also unveiled a new AI model called Qwen3.5, which it says is designed for the 'agentic AI era'.