![\"AlphaBot](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/robot-stills1.jpg\")
<\/p>\n Macao, China
\n CNN
\n \u00a0\u2014\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n AlphaBot 2 wants to beat humans at their own game. When the robot is asked if it wants to play dice, it can interpret the question and jump into action \u2013 pressing the button on an automatic dice roller, which spins a die. It can even react to its opponent\u2019s score with a thumbs up if they win.\n <\/p>\n
\n The humanoid, created by AI\u00b2 Robotics, based in Shenzhen, China, displayed its skills at the recent Beyond Expo in the Chinese special administrative region of Macao, where it played the game with attendees of the tech conference, including CNN journalists.\n <\/p>\n
\n The robot\u2019s ability to understand instructions was made possible by embodied artificial intelligence (AI) \u2013 the integration of AI systems into physical entities \u2013 allowing it to interact with and learn from the world around it.\n <\/p>\n
\n \u201cIn the last era of robots, people needed to program them to tell them what to do,\u201d Yandong Guo, CEO of AI\u00b2 Robotics, told CNN correspondent Kristie Lu Stout on the sidelines of the conference. \u201cNow you just tell them what to do, and the robot can understand the environment.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n Guo adds that it took the robot just minutes to learn to play. \u201cWe just show the robot what to do, maybe five to 10 samples, and the robot can learn.\u201d\n <\/p>\n
\n While AI chatbots like ChatGPT have become familiar, many experts say that embodied AI is the next big thing in the field.\n <\/p>\n
\n Companies across the world are developing humanoid robots with AI, including Tesla and California-based Figure AI, whose investors include major tech companies like Microsoft and Nvidia.\n <\/p>\n
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\n In China, embodied AI is receiving serious national support, including funding, innovation centers<\/a> and even a robot school<\/a>. Shenzhen alone is home to more than 200 companies focusing on the tech, according to local media<\/a>.\n <\/p>\n \n Officials see the technology as a potential driver of economic growth<\/a>, and in recent years homegrown robots have gained attention for skills ranging from delivering roundhouse kicks<\/a> to running a half-marathon<\/a> (though not very quickly).\n <\/p>\n \n Today, robots are already being used around the globe in industrial settings, like car manufacturing plants. Many robots are programmed to complete routine tasks, but things are shifting towards the use of embodied AI, says Harry Yang<\/a>, an assistant professor at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. \u201cAs tasks become more complex, you need robots to see and understand and act based on different situations,\u201d he says.\n <\/p>\n \n AlphaBot 2 \u2013 which comes equipped with AI\u00b2 Robotics\u2019 self-developed embodied AI model \u2013 already has customers across industrial services, biotechnology, and public services, the company says.\n <\/p>\n \n At a factory operated by carmaker Dongfeng Liuzhou Motor Co. it loads and unloads materials, tows carts, and attaches labels to windshields.\n <\/p>\n \n But Guo hopes that one day, it can step out of the factory and into the home.\n <\/p>\n \n Today, most robots lack the technological prowess to be helpful in a household. Hong Kong-listed UBTech Robotics plans to unveil a $20,000 home companion robot this year, according to Bloomberg<\/a>, but the company said the technology was years away from being able to help with household chores and to look after humans.\n <\/p>\n \n That\u2019s because it\u2019s difficult to get enough training data to simulate the varying home environments people live in, experts say. But Morgan Stanley<\/a> estimates that 80 million humanoids will be used in homes by 2050, as technology advances.\n <\/p>\n \n Guo is already envisioning how his robots might be able to help consumers. \u201cIf you want to drink some tea,\u201d he says, \u201cthe robot can know where to fetch the teabag can know where to get hot water, and how to pour the hot water into the cup and make tea for you.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n That\u2019s not all. \u201cAfter we eat, I hope our robot can clean up all the dishes for us. We love to cook, but we don\u2019t like to clean things up.\u201d\n <\/p>\n \n The reality Guo imagines is still a way off. Prices will need to come down. AI\u00b2 declined to share a price for its humanoids, saying its robots are tailored to customer requirements, so there\u2019s no fixed price. Humanoids produced by some other companies in China cost just shy of $15,000<\/a> and within five years, the price of an AI\u00b2 humanoid could drop to the range of an entry-level car affordable to a middle-class family, says a spokesperson.\n <\/p>\n \n \u201cThe challenge here is that it\u2019s very expensive to make one,\u201d says Yang. \u201cMaybe you\u2019d rather hire someone (to work in your home), it\u2019s cheaper and easier.\u201d\n <\/p>\n