<div id="readability-page-1">China’s industrial giants are rapidly scaling up the use of AI-powered robots to operate vital infrastructure, with the country’s main grid operator unveiling a blockbuster plan to deploy thousands of bots to handle a range of roles – from inspecting remote substations to performing maintenance on ultra-high-voltage power lines. The State Grid Corporation of China has earmarked 6.8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) for the procurement of embodied intelligence – or artificial intelligence-enabled robots – in 2026 alone, Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported on Friday. The firm intends to purchase around 8,500 robots this year, according to an internal company development plan seen by Jiemian. When similar plans by other Chinese utility firms including China Southern Power Grid are taken into account, industry insiders expect total investment on embodied intelligence in the sector to surpass 10 billion yuan in 2026, according to the report. State Grid runs the power infrastructure across 26 of the Chinese mainland’s 31 provincial-level regions, with China Southern Power Grid covering five southern regions including Guangdong province. The procurement plans by State Grid centre on the purchase of 5,000 robot dogs, which will be used to inspect substations and transmission lines, as well as other facilities located in mountainous terrain. The firm will also deploy an army of humanoid and dual-arm robots to perform more high-stakes tasks, including maintaining the country’s rapidly expanding ultra-high-voltage power grid.   About 5.8 billion yuan of State Grid’s investment will go towards procuring hardware, with the remainder allocated to research and development and staff training, according to the report. Major domestic robotics firms including Unitree, Deep Robotics, AgiBot, UBTech and Fourier are listed as suppliers in the procurement plan, the report said. State Grid and the five robot makers did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the South China Morning Post. Beyond equipment purchases, both State Grid and China Southern Power Grid are doubling down on their own in-house tech arms to develop proprietary applications. This domestic push is also spilling over into international markets. Guangdong Power Grid, a subsidiary of China Southern Power Grid, has agreed a deal with a Chilean utility firm to use its self-developed “Feiyun” robot dog to inspect remote substations in Chile, with the first units expected to be deployed later this year, the firm announced in a press release last week. Zheshang Securities said the production of embodied AI is “about to explode”, with total output potentially reaching 2.1 million units by 2030, in a note released late last month. “We believe 2026 will be the year humanoid robots achieve mass production,” the firm said. “The future has arrived.” Total shipments from major suppliers topped 14,000 units in 2025 – a fivefold increase from 2024. China currently dominates the market, with domestic suppliers accounting for over 88 per cent of global shipments, while US suppliers hold roughly 3 per cent, according to the note. Additional reporting by Coco Feng </div>

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<p>China's State Grid Corporation plans to invest 6.8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) in AI-powered robots for its power grid by 2026, aiming to purchase around 8,500 robots this year. The investment will focus on 5,000 robot dogs for inspections and humanoid robots for maintenance of ultra-high-voltage lines. Total sector investment is expected to exceed 10 billion yuan, with major domestic firms like Unitree and UBTech as suppliers. The push for embodied intelligence is anticipated to lead to mass production of humanoid robots by 2026, with China dominating the global market.</p>

Why China is spending billions on a robot army to run its power grid