Hong Kong’s CUHK aims to bring AI to life with humanoid-focused robotics lab
City’s first embodied AI lab, backed by 24 tech firms, is set to advance humanoid and quadruped robotics research and training over next five years
The Hong Kong Embodied AI Lab, established by CUHK’s Hong Kong Centre for Logistics Robotics under the government’s InnoHK initiative, has already introduced upgraded versions of the city’s first locally developed AI-powered robotic arms and a quadruped robot, with improved stability.
The partnerships, announced on Monday, primarily involve mainland firms, including Shanghai-based AgiBot, and Hangzhou-based Deep Robotics and Yushu Technology, also known as Unitree Robotics. Six partners are Hong Kong-based, including Lenovo’s Capital and Incubator Group, and one – VinMotion – is from Vietnam.
Professor Li Zhongyu, the lab’s co-director, said embodied AI marked a shift from traditional artificial intelligence (AI), which only processes information, as it could “perceive its surroundings, act and interact with the environment”.
He said the partners would provide funding and low-cost robotic hardware to support the lab’s research and its long-term humanoid design goals.
“Hong Kong’s advantage lies in its access to international talent pools, the low-cost mainland supply chain and worldwide large language models,” he said.