Circuit training: How China is teaching humanoid robots to do useful things

NPR | By John Ruwitch

Published September 15, 2026 at 3:51 PM EDT

China has made developing and selling humanoid robots an economic priority, but getting robots to work requires hours of repetitive "training" done by people to create data about the physical world.

John Ruwitch

John Ruwitch is a correspondent with NPR's international desk. He covers Chinese affairs.

See stories by John Ruwitch

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