Our phrase of the week is: “embodied intelligence” (具身智能 jù shēn zhì néng)
Context
On November 5th, XPENG, one of China’s top EV brands, unveiled its next-generation humanoid robot, “IRON.”
It was meant to be a simple technical demonstration. IRON performed a brief catwalk across the stage alongside company founder He Xiaopeng (何小鹏).
But that short walk sparked unexpected controversy. IRON’s unusually human-like movements and feminine appearance prompted many people to question whether there was a person hidden inside.
So the following day, He Xiaopeng released an unedited video showing staff members unzipping IRON’s back to reveal the robotic components inside. At another event, employees cut open the robot’s legs to prove it was not human.
The release of IRON shouldn’t surprise anyone following the company, though. In an interview earlier this year, He Xiaopeng explained XPENG’s new positioning, which clearly signals its future direction:
Xpeng’s official positioning has now been upgraded from last year’s “global AI car company” to “global embodied intelligence company.”
在小鹏如今官方的定位，已经从去年刚喊出来的”面向全球的AI汽车公司”升级为”面向全球的具身智能公司”
zài xiǎo péng rú jīn guān fāng de dìng wèi, yǐ jīng cóng qù nián gāng hǎn chū lái de “miàn xiàng quán qiú de AI qì chē gōng sī” shēng jí wéi “miàn xiàng quán qiú de jù shēn zhì néng gōng sī”
And with that, we have our Sinica Phrase of the Week.
What it means
The phrase “embodied intelligence” (具身智能 jù shēn zhì néng) is a relatively new tech buzzword in China.
Breaking it down: “to possess” (具 jù), “body” (身 shēn), and “intelligence” (智能 zhì néng) — literally “body-possessing intelligence” or “intelligence with a body.”
This phrase “embodied intelligence” is imported from English, and is a concept central to robotics. It traces back to 1950, when British mathematician and computer scientist, Alan Turing, first explored the idea in his paper “Computing Machinery and Intelligence.”
By the 1980s, concepts like cybernetics, behavior-based robotics, and “behavioral intelligence” had gained traction in Western tech circles — and in popular culture with movies like The Terminator.
Since then, and into the 2000s, humanoid robot development has been dominated by companies in America, Europe, and Japan.
But in recent years, China has ramped up its attention on humanoid robotics. In March 2025, Government Work Report explicitly called for cultivating future industries like “embodied intelligence”. And proposals for the 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-2030) have identified it as a key technology.
So XPENG isn’t alone in China’s pursuit of embodied intelligence. The release of IRON represents a wider push for dominance in humanoid robotics and embodied AI in China. It serves as a reminder that Chinese companies are making significant strides in bringing embodied intelligence from concept to reality.
Andrew Methven is the author of RealTime Mandarin, a resource which helps you bridge the gap to real-world fluency in Mandarin, stay informed about China, and communicate with confidence—all through weekly immersion in real news. Subscribe for free here.
