Chinese phone maker bets on AI robots

China's Unitree robot. Photo: Unitree .

Starting from mobile, Chinese tech companies are preparing for the distant future when the industry is saturated. Xiaomi has chosen to make electric cars, Huawei has a telecommunications ecosystem, Vivo is betting on robots. In China, the company is often considered cautious before trends. The recent introduction of a robot development room and virtual reality glasses surprised many people.

According to QQ , Chinese technology companies develop in breadth, expanding into many areas when achieving certain success. Typical examples include Alibaba, Tencent, Huawei or Xiaomi. In contrast, Vivo often chooses to “go all-in” on one area instead of betting randomly.

Observer said the mobile company has been researching electric vehicles since 2020. However, they refused to invest when they realized that the technology content was only 10%. On the contrary, in the field of humanoid robots, the application of AI, imaging technology, chips, batteries and operating systems, the company can be 80% self-sufficient. Experience in the mobile field can also be transferred to the new industry.

Vivo's XR glasses look similar to the Vision Pro. Photo: Vivo.

AI optimists also believe that robots are the answer to humanity in this generation. They are the next “smartphones,” constantly helping users. “As the population ages, the need for such devices will increase for cleaning services, medical care,” the Observer notes.

Robots are not a new concept. They were invented in 1954, and were used in factories. In the past two years, large language models have opened up the possibility of more advanced applications. “Without AI, robots have no future,” one industry researcher told the Observer.

Vivo is one of the Chinese companies with the strongest AI infrastructure. The company established a research center in 2018, with more than 1,000 permanent employees. Before the ChatGPT craze, the mobile company launched LLM Blue Heart in 2023. This network is smart enough to communicate with voice, interact with images with multiple simultaneous inputs.

The core technology is applied to develop mixed reality (XR) glasses. The Vivo Vision prototype was also recently announced by the company with many similarities to Apple's Vision Pro. However, compared to humanoid robots, the level of skepticism for virtual reality glasses is higher. Apple's "The Big Thing" is a disappointment to users and technology enthusiasts.

Hardware limitations and augmented reality capabilities mean the technology remains a big question mark. Oppo introduced a prototype of XR glasses in 2023 but has yet to sell them. Xiaomi declined to comment on its virtual reality project when asked.

Source: https://znews.vn/hang-dien-thoai-trung-quoc-dat-cuoc-vao-robot-ai-post1541761.html