The robots were clumsy at first – stumbling, falling, struggling to grasp objects. But with each generation, they improved, they learned to do backflips and lift and sort objects. Robotics firms posted show-and-tells on social media, and engineers beamed like proud parents at trade shows, as crowds gathered around to witness demonstrations. Humanoid Robots now work alongside humans on vehicle assembly line, and are even in a few homes.
There is now a humanoid robot that comes with 5G-A, enabling it to venture beyond the confines of Wi-Fi, thanks to a Chinese partnership between China Mobile, Huawei and Leju Robotics. The world’s first humanoid robot with 5G-A (the A stands for advanced), was unveiled in early March at the annual Mobile World Congress conference, held this year in Barcelona. 5G-A technology offers high-precision positioning capabilities for autonomous navigation, and improves speed, increases reliability and ensures seamless task execution, according to Leju Robotics.
“With broader bandwidth, ultra-low latency, and a more intelligent network architecture, 5G-A provides a solid technological foundation for the multi-scenario applications of humanoid robots,” stated Leju Robotics.
Almost eight years ago, in June 2017, Huawei wrote about the nexus of artificial intelligence, robotics and 5G technology, predicting that as the technology improved, it would lead to more efficient, autonomous humanoid robots.
“Advances in technologies including Artificial Intelligence, the Internet of Things and wireless communications are making robots more capable. They can now identify their surroundings, calibrate their position, plan trajectories, and use natural interfaces to interact with humans,” Huawei stated in its “GTI 5G and Cloud Robotics White Paper.”
“There have been increases in the capabilities of robots used in industry, agriculture, logistics and education. The rapid rise in the use of drones is also evidence of the increasing capabilities of robots. Cloud robots will soon become the norm Cloud-based AI and connectivity will shape the development of the robot market significantly in the next few years. These techniques have already begun to change the way that people interact: technology giants have developed AI-based systems that are becoming widely used.”
According to Goldman Sachs Research, humanoid robots are expected to become a $38 billion market by 2035, with 1.4 million units distributed globally. The firm is also predicting that the per unit cost of humanoid robots will drop.
“There are signs that robot components, from high-precision gears to actuators, could also cost less than previously expected, leading to faster commercialization,” Goldman Sachs reports. “The manufacturing cost of humanoid robots has dropped — from a range that ran between an estimated $50,000 (for lower-end models) and $250,000 (for state-of-the-art versions) per unit last year, to a range of between $30,000 and $150,000 now. Where our analysts had expected a decline of 15-20% per annum, the cost declined 40%.”
Brett Adcock, the founder and CEO of Figure, an AI robotics company, said during the 2025 Abundance360 Summit, held in early March in Los Angeles, that “The humanoid robot is like the ultimate deployment vector for AGI. We are designing a new hardware platform every 12 to 18 months . . . I think you’re going to see in the coming years, being put in homes, just through speech be able to do like very long horizon hours of work, without any prompt, there’s like an iPhone moment happening with humanoids, it’s going to happen right now.”
Figure robots are currently being used at a BMW manufacturing facility in Spartanburg, South Carolina.
And Huawei’s predictions back in 2017 for humanoid robots is being realized.
“Robots will be connected to the cloud by fast, low latency reliable and secure networks. These networks – specifically the new 5G mobile networks that will be built in the next few years – are themselves architected to ensure they can support multiple separate types of communications need – including ultra-low latency, or very high bandwidth. They can do this by delivering software-defined network slices whose performance characteristics match the requirements of the user.
Low latency for even the most demanding robotics applications can be delivered through new network designs and by locating computing resources in the most appropriate places – including at the network edge, close to the user. As these technologies fall into place, there will be an explosion in use of cloud robotics across businesses of all types, and in the home. Logistics robots will become more capable, working outside their currently limited locations. There will be cloud robots performing security and surveillance functions, guiding people through large buildings and delivering information in response to spoken questions in commercial locations such as shops, museums and airports.”
“And there will be a range of domestic robots able to help people with education and providing companionship and care support, as well as delivering entertainment. The way we live and work will be enhanced by the advances in robotics that are enabled by cloud computing, AI and 5G networks.”
