- «Other companies in the West are weak,» Musk said.
- Xpeng‘s Iron looks so real that many suspected it hid a human inside.
Xpeng’s (NYSE: XPEV) next-generation Iron humanoid robot has stunned many in China, and its American rival Tesla‘s (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO has taken notice.
«Not bad … Tesla and China companies will dominate the market,» Elon Musk commented on Xpeng Iron in a chat, according to a report today by local media Sohu Tech.
«Other companies in the West are weak,» the Tesla CEO said.
«I have great respect for China competition. So many smart, hardworking people in China,» he said.
Xpeng unveiled its next-generation Iron humanoid robot at its 2025 AI Day on November 5. Unlike the first-generation model released last year, the new iteration resembles a female figure.
During the event, the Iron humanoid robot stunned audiences by performing a catwalk with natural, fluid movements and highly realistic human postures.
Its lifelike appearance led many to suspect the company had hidden a real person inside the demonstration prototype.
This suspicion quickly became a trending topic on Chinese social media, prompting Xpeng to respond.
Yesterday, Xpeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng shared an unedited video on Weibo proving the new Iron robot is indeed robotic.
«Tesla’s robot can’t walk this smoothly — there’s no way this is possible,» said a social media user comment shared by Mr. He in the video.
He then demonstrated the humanoid robot’s hand details and the microphone array positioned near its ears.
Xpeng aims to achieve mass production of advanced humanoid robots by the end of 2026.
