Why a Chinese Robot Vacuum Company Spun Off Two EV Brands

For Chinese companies, the stake is that little prices and much AI features volition transportation radical to deterioration astute glasses each day, signaling their lives done changeless video and audio. If you little the terms to astir $200, “people volition commencement to usage them each day,” says Brian Chen, wide manager of Appotronics’ innovation center. That displacement would rise evident privateness and information concerns that some Rokid and Appotronics person acknowledged, but they spot the imaginable payoff arsenic worthy the risk.

From Vacuums to Cars

Several large Chinese electrical conveyance companies, including Geely and Great Wall Motor, brought their cars to CES, but what stole the amusement were 2 brands that astir nary 1 had heard of before. Nebula Next and Kosmera some showed disconnected sleek, luxurious electrical sports car prototypes, neither of which are disposable connected the marketplace yet. Both brands person connections to Dreame, a starring Chinese robot vacuum company, but they assertion to run independently from it. At CES, however, the Nebula Next and Kosmera booths were tied to Dreame successful the conference’s directory.

Putting speech this analyzable firm relationship, the thought of a robot vacuum institution investing successful EVs is not arsenic absurd arsenic it sounds. If anything, it’s conscionable the latest illustration of however Chinese electronics companies are parlaying their existing manufacturing expertise into making cars. The laminitis of Roborock, different Chinese vacuum company, started an EV institution successful 2023. Xiaomi, the Chinese smartphone and location instrumentality giant, launched its archetypal EV successful 2024.

Dreame isn’t the archetypal and won’t beryllium the past Chinese institution crossing implicit from electronics to EVs, says Lei Xing, an autarkic car marketplace expert and the erstwhile main exertion of the China Auto Review, who checked retired Kosmera’s prototypes astatine CES with me. China’s blase proviso chain, engineering talent, and manufacturing ecosystem marque it comparatively casual for newcomers to instrumentality a changeable astatine gathering cars, Xing explains, but lone a fewer volition succeed. Others could extremity up much similar Apple, whose long-running car task yet collapsed. “Life and decease volition beryllium a earthy outcome,” Xing says.

Robovans Are Coming

When I went backmost to China past year, I made definite to effort Baidu’s robotaxi service, which is astir connected par with Alphabet’s Waymo successful the US. What amazed maine successful China, however, was however galore autonomous parcel transportation cars determination were roaming the aforesaid unfastened streets alongside my robotaxi.

Neolix is the starring institution successful China making some the hardware and bundle for robovans. It says the fig of them deployed successful China is increasing astir tenfold each twelvemonth and reached astir 10,000 successful 2025. (For comparison, there’re astir 2,500 Waymo cars operating successful the US.) Neolix claims to correspond much than 60 percent of the marketplace and has nary large competitors globally, says Zhao You, the company’s enforcement president. Neolix brought 3 of its cars to CES, ranging successful size from a mini-fridge to a play cart: tiny, windowless boxes perched connected oversized wheels, with nary operator inside.

Neolix is anxious to grow internationally and already has aviator projects underway successful the Middle East, East Asia, and Latin America. It’s eyeing the American marketplace too. Zhao told maine he’s alert that immoderate self-driving institution successful the US volition look dense scrutiny connected issues similar information and information security, but he’s hoping to enactment with section partners who could assistance navigate compliance requirements here. “As a tech company, moving with 1 unreality work supplier for immoderate marketplace is the astir affordable option, but it won’t work. You person to speech to section regulators and larn which unreality providers they o.k. of,” Zhao says.

Generating Viral Videos

When OpenAI launched Sora 2 past year, it was making an ambitious stake that generative AI tin beryllium not conscionable a instrumentality but a contented genre large capable to prolong an full societal media platform. That imaginativeness hasn’t afloat materialized yet, but astatine CES I met with 2 AI video companies that are competing with OpenAI’s Sora.

Kling is the AI part of Kuaishou, a massively fashionable Chinese short-video platform. The Kling app and website combined person much than 60 cardinal registered users, the bulk of which the institution says are based extracurricular China. About 100 radical attended Kling’s sheet lawsuit astatine CES with the platform’s powerfulness users. Jason Zada, an award-winning manager who made Coca-Cola’s arguable 2024 AI-generated vacation commercial, said helium precocious utilized Kling to make a YouTube video featuring a fireplace calmly burning arsenic Santa, turkeys, astronauts, and snowmen marque inexplicable appearances. Zada said helium created implicit 600 clips with Kling and pieced them unneurotic to marque the last 105-minute video. It outgo astir $2,500 successful token credits.