(Yicai) May 14 -- After an initial period of experimentation focused on showcase functions such as guiding visitors and dancing, robots are increasingly evolving into productivity tools for factories and retail operations, as companies accelerate efforts to commercialize embodied artificial intelligence technologies.

The shift is taking place across the industry as robot makers move beyond demonstrations and pilot projects toward practical industrial applications. “The entire industry is making a collective turn,” Peng Zhihui, co-founder and president of AgiBot, said at the recent Hong Kong Embodied AI Industry Summit.

Robot makers are now deploying machines in manufacturing and retail settings to perform repetitive operational tasks. “We have completed the verification of the loading and unloading process in a textile machinery manufacturing plant,” Ge Jin, president of PL-Universe Robotics, said at the company’s global partners conference this week.

The broader commercialization push comes as companies test whether humanoid and embodied artificial intelligence robots can improve efficiency and reduce labor costs in real-world business environments. Retail and consumer electronics manufacturing have emerged as key early-use scenarios.

On May 12, PL-Universe Robotics launched a loading and unloading module and data collection solution for its ProWhite robot. The robot has completed proof-of-concept projects across multiple industries, including material arrangement at automotive original equipment manufacturers, product assembly in furniture factories, printed circuit board handling in electronics plants, pickled vegetable root removal in food processing factories, and loading and unloading operations at textile machinery plants.

AgiBot recently entered consumer electronics production workshops. On April 14, the company completed an eight-hour uninterrupted livestream demonstration. At the Nanchang tablet factory of consumer electronics manufacturer Longcheer Technology, AgiBot’s "Genie" G2 robot was integrated into a high-speed production line. The robot picked up tablets awaiting testing from the assembly line, inserted the devices into testing fixtures, and then sorted and returned them as qualified or defective after testing was completed.

Also in April, Galbot’s Galbot G1 humanoid robot joined the staff of a FamilyMart store in Beijing’s high-tech office building Dinghao DH3. The store underwent modifications and carries fewer product categories than a standard FamilyMart outlet.

According to Shi Xuesong, a partner at Galbot, the robot has already been integrated into the store’s actual sales process. It can handle the picking, placement, and delivery of cooked food and cold drinks, while also supporting coffee preparation and delivery.

Editor: Emmi Laine