Chinese Robot Maker Soars 542% in Shanghai Debut

Investors did not hide their appetite: the offering was oversubscribed by more than 8,000 times, according to IBTimes, and the IPO drew a roughly 140.8 million yuan investment from Chinese AI company DeepSeek, CNBC reported, citing a company filing. Existing backers include Tencent.

Jack Pearson of investment firm RoboStrategy told the BBC the listing is a "turning point" for China's robotics industry, coming even as the US curbs imports of foreign-made robots, and said it could set a benchmark for other manufacturers.

Fei Qin, an associate professor at the University of Bath, told the BBC that Beijing treats robotics as a "strategic priority," and that "robots are where AI leaves the screen and enters the economy" — in factories, hospitals and potentially the home.

Robotics researcher David Hsu told the BBC the US has lost the lead it held a decade ago. "We no longer hear about American robotics companies in the news. It's the Chinese robot companies that are making news today," he said. "They have replaced America as the cool kids on the block."

Not everyone is convinced. Harold Soh, a researcher at the National University of Singapore, told the BBC that robots are still years away from working effectively in homes, citing battery life, privacy and reliability, and said the near-term market is factories and hospitals. Gizmodo compared the debut to "a stock from the height of the dot-com craze."