Xiaomi's 66-degree-of-freedom humanoid robot targets Tesla's Optimus

Xiaomi's next humanoid robot prototype stands 1.7 meters tall with 66 degrees of freedom, half of them packed into its hands.

Xiaomi's next humanoid robot prototype, carrying 66 degrees of freedom with half its joints concentrated in the hands, is set to debut in Europe after its domestic launch, sharpening its rivalry with Tesla's Optimus in the humanoid robotics market.

The robot remains at the prototype stage and will be exhibited in Europe after its domestic debut, National Business Daily reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

The new machine stands about 1.7 meters tall and weighs 66 kilograms, a departure from Xiaomi's first full-size humanoid, CyberOne, which launched in 2022 at 1.77 meters and 52 kilograms with 21 degrees of joint freedom. The jump to 66 degrees of freedom — 33 of them in the hands — marks a major advance in dexterity, the area where humanoid robots have lagged locomotion.

Xiaomi released CyberOne nearly two months before Tesla unveiled its Optimus prototype, making the Chinese smartphone maker an early mover in a field that analysts expect to become a multi-billion-dollar market. Xiaomi shares rose 5.042 percent on Aug. 19, the day the report surfaced, as investors weighed the robotics ambitions against the company's core handset and electric-vehicle businesses.

Hands Are the Hard Part

Humanoid robots have largely mastered walking; manipulating objects remains the bottleneck. By concentrating half its degrees of freedom in the hands, Xiaomi's prototype targets the dexterity that rivals including Tesla, Boston Dynamics and China's Unitree have struggled to perfect. Tesla's Optimus, unveiled in late 2022, carries 28 degrees of freedom across its body, according to the company's published specifications, giving Xiaomi's design a numerical edge on paper — though neither company has disclosed the test conditions for real-world manipulation.

A Long-Dated Bet for Investors

For investors, the prototype is less about near-term revenue than about staking Xiaomi's position in a market that Goldman Sachs has projected could reach $38 billion by 2035. Xiaomi, listed on the Hong Kong exchange under 01810.HK, has yet to disclose a robotics revenue target or production timeline, and the unit remains a small fraction of a business dominated by smartphones and EVs. The stock's 5 percent gain suggests the market is pricing in optionality rather than immediate earnings, leaving the robotics story a long-dated bet on a sector still years from mass commercialization. Xiaomi's second-quarter results, reported the same week, showed revenue down 6 percent with adjusted net profit falling nearly 43 percent to 6.22 billion yuan and new car deliveries rising 28 percent to 104,200 units — a reminder of why investors are watching for growth engines beyond handsets and cars.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.