Pony.ai recorded total revenue of 102 million yuan (approximately USD 13.98 million) in Q1 2025, marking a 12% year-on-year increase.

The humanoid robot craze continues, with upstream parts producers taking the lead in cashing in on the industry's dividends. Today, robotics concept stocks surged, with Tuosida and others hitting the daily limit. Wuzhou Xinchun, Saifutian, and Baoxin Technology also hit the daily limit in the afternoon, while Taier Shares, Keli'er, Wanxiang Qianchao, Chunguang Technology, and Tuosida had previously hit the daily limit. Effort, Weiergao, Tongxin Transmission, and Mannst among others rose by more than 10%. Recently, Wang Xingxing revealed during a speech at the 6th Shanghai Innovation and Entrepreneurship Youth 50 Forum that humanoid robot companies, including Unitree, are currently in good shape. "Many companies are swamped with orders," Wang said. He also mentioned that Unitree Technology is currently short-staffed across all positions. Hot money is pouring into the primary market, with new startups emerging one after another. In the secondary market, concept stock companies are seeing their share prices soar. Humanoid robots are undoubtedly the most iconic emerging industry in 2025. As robots gradually transition from dancing and somersaulting in labs to industrial applications, the greater challenge lies in achieving mass production to form a commercial closed loop. What customers need are robots that can truly create value, with a focus on return on investment, rather than mere showmanship or performance. Previously, Tesla founder Elon Musk stated that in 2025, over 1,000 humanoid robots, Optimus, will be produced and trial-run in Tesla's own factories to prepare for full-scale mass production. An industry insider told the *Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily* that currently, Zhiyuan Robotics and Leju Robotics are among the top in terms of industry shipments. In a previous interview with the *Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily*, Yao Maoqing, partner of Zhiyuan Robotics and president of the Embodied Intelligence Business Unit, introduced that Zhiyuan plans to maintain robot shipments in the thousands this year, with revenue expected to grow severalfold. Leju also aims to deliver over 1,000 humanoid robots this year, with a minimum guaranteed delivery of 500 units. Unitree Robotics, on the other hand, has been inundated with orders, with a typical delivery date of two months. The *Science and Technology Innovation Board Daily* learned from Fourier Intelligence that, as of Q1 2025, Fourier Intelligence had delivered over 10,000 robots in total. The overall shipment and delivery target for 2025 is in the thousands, with a goal of delivering 300 bipedal humanoid robots. Recently, Fourier Intelligence and the Shanghai International Medical Center officially unveiled the "Embodied Intelligence Rehabilitation Hub." The two sides will engage in comprehensive cooperation around the construction of application standards for embodied intelligent robots in rehabilitation medical scenarios, the co-creation of rehabilitation programs, and scientific research, jointly building the first domestic demonstration base for embodied intelligent rehabilitation. At the same time, Fourier Intelligence signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Tongji University. The two sides will leverage their respective strengths to carry out joint R&D, talent cultivation, and scenario co-construction, accelerating the transformation of advanced technologies from theory to practical application.Fourier Intelligence also signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the National-Local Joint Humanoid Robot Innovation Center to jointly promote the innovative application of embodied intelligence technology in the fields of rehabilitation healthcare and industrial services. This also marked Fourier Intelligence's first step in exploring embodied intelligence + elderly care in collaboration with industry partners. A reporter from the *China Securities Journal* learned from UBTECH Robotics that today, Huawei and UBTECH Robotics officially signed a comprehensive cooperation agreement in Shenzhen. The two parties will carry out innovative cooperation in the fields of embodied intelligence and humanoid robots, covering product R&D, scenario applications, and industrial systems. The agreement stipulates that the two parties will leverage Huawei's capabilities, including Ascend, Kunpeng, Huawei Cloud, and large models, as well as Huawei's experience in R&D, production, and supply, and combine them with UBTECH Robotics' full-stack humanoid robot technology to drive the transition of humanoid robots from laboratory innovation to efficiency improvements and scalable deployment in industrial, home, and other scenarios. Huawei will rely on its full-stack AI infrastructure capabilities to support UBTECH Robotics in establishing an embodied intelligence innovation center. The two parties will also collaborate on developing joint demonstration solutions for "humanoid robots + smart factories" based on specific scenarios, as well as on developing home service humanoid robots (including bipedal and wheeled humanoid robots). In late April, UBTECH Robotics officially signed a large-scale procurement contract for bipedal humanoid robots with the purchasing party. The products involved are mainly the industrial humanoid robot Walker S1 and the commercial version humanoid robot Walker C. The relevant products will be used in production and manufacturing processes at automotive factories, as well as in commercial reception and other areas. This is the first time globally that a humanoid robot enterprise has signed a small-batch procurement contract for humanoid robots in a factory manufacturing scenario. However, due to limited capacity, it is difficult to replicate demand scenarios on a large scale, making it challenging to form a viable business loop. As a result, many industry insiders remain cautious about the current shipment situation of humanoid robots. A CFO of a humanoid robot company in Shanghai told a reporter from the *China Securities Journal* that currently, the company already has a backlog of orders for several hundred units. However, due to capacity constraints, the CFO remains cautiously optimistic about shipments. "On the one hand, the company's own capacity is insufficient, and on the other hand, there are issues with the stability of parts. Therefore, shipments are relatively cautious," the CFO also mentioned that the vast majority of humanoid robot enterprises do not ship their products to real, valuable application scenarios. Since it is difficult for scenarios to meet customer value needs, it is also challenging to form a viable business loop for humanoid robot shipments. He Bin, Dean of the School of Electronic and Information Engineering at Tongji University, believes that embodied intelligence drives AI development towards physical space projects through human behavior, enabling information interaction in the physical space.AI technology integrates physics with technology, with numerous cutting-edge fields that are highly popular. From the perspectives of AI and personnel, enterprises face challenges ranging from foundational models to practical key data technologies, data acquisition, and algorithm applications. Driven by capital and integrated with various scenarios, especially the application of special mechanical products, there is potential for breakthrough development in the future. Li Jing, a professor and doctoral supervisor at the Shanghai Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing and Robotics, Shanghai University, stated that embodied intelligent operation models differ from general large models. The large model represents a new paradigm for embodied intelligence, encompassing environmental perception, decision-making, and enforcement. Humanoid robots have become a hot topic due to their generalization capabilities, enabling them to achieve more functions based on model data foundations and strong enforcement. Li Jing believes that from a robotics professional perspective, motion control of humanoid robots is a key focus. Currently, there are shortcomings in this area both domestically and overseas. For instance, while the improvement of cerebellar functions and the ability to stand and walk are important, enhancing generalization capabilities in unstructured environments, including breakthroughs in safety under human-robot functional binding and flexible control of whole-body motion, is a long-term process that also limits application scenarios.

US non-farm payrolls increased by 177,000 in April, compared to an estimated increase of 138,000 and a prior increase of 228,000. The March data was revised downward. The unemployment rate remained unchanged at 4.2%. The country will continue to increase central fiscal funding to support local and industry efforts in constructing a number of foundational, public-interest, and long-term data infrastructure projects. It will effectively utilize ultra-long-term special treasury bond funds to accelerate the construction of the national data infrastructure architecture. Looking ahead to the "15th Five-Year Plan" period, it will expedite the formulation of a national data infrastructure plan.

BYD Company Limited reported sales of 380,089 new vehicles for the month of April 2025, marking a year-on-year jump of 21.34% and also showing a slight month-on-month growth of 0.71%.

BYD Company Limited (BYD) reported sales of 377,420 new vehicles for the month of March 2025, marking a year-on-year jump of 24.78%, and also showing a month-on-month growth of 16.9%.

In March, Chery Group sold 214,770 vehicles, marking an 18.3% year-on-year increase, according to the company's announcement on April 1.

In March 2025, China's aluminum processing industry composite PMI rose to 61.6%, entering expansion territory, driven by policy dividends and seasonal peak effects that propelled structural recovery. Aluminum plate/strip (63.3%) and foil (69.3%) benefited from automotive/battery demand and old-for-new policies, though constrained by Indian anti-dumping measures and declining overseas orders. Architectural aluminum profile new orders exceeded 70%, while industrial profiles maintained expansion through new energy/solar demand, yet SMEs faced over 50% idle capacity due to technical bottlenecks. Aluminum cable production index surged to 73.05% as industry leader, driven by front-loaded ultra-high voltage orders and grid delivery schedules. Recycled aluminum PMI jumped 27.7 percentage points to 70.4%, but high aluminum prices suppressed procurement, revealing weak recovery in primary aluminum and inventory risks in recycled sectors. Although April's solar policy updates and grid peak season may sustain growth momentum, aluminum prices exceeding ¥21,000/ton could dampen purchasing enthusiasm. Coupled with export pressures and SME overcapacity, the industry's overall upside potential remains constrained.

BYD Company Limited (BYD) reported sales of 322,846 new vehicles for the month of February 2025, marking a remarkable year-on-year surge of 163.95%, and also showing a month-on-month growth of 7.42%...

Large changes are underway across the global supply chain for metals due in large part to the growth in the new energy industry. Global demand for cobalt, lithium, and nickel-three of the key metals at the heart of EVs, advanced batteries, and renewable energy technologies-is at unprecedented levels, radically changing worldwide markets in ways that have potential long-term implications for manufacturers, investors, and policymakers alike. Demand for these three metals in the active parts of rechargeable batteries and other green energy storage systems has skyrocketed as governments and companies further ramp up efforts to decarbonize their respective economies.

On January 7, Chinese automaker Chery Automobile Co., Ltd. (Chery Automobile) established a wholly-owned subsidiary, Anhui Mojia Zhichuang Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. (Mojia Zhichuang is Chinese P...