Pudu Robotics' Wu Xiang: Scene Mastery Key to Robot Competition

At the 2026 World Robot Conference held from August 19-23 in Beijing, Wu Xiang, general manager of Pudu Robotics' embodied intelligence product line, gave an interview. He introduced two products the company exhibited, including one developed in partnership with JD.com. Wu stressed that the next stage of robot competition will be determined by how well robots perform in real-world scenarios, not just technical specs.

Wu explained that early robotics battles were about hardware and basic functionality, but the bar has since risen. The key differentiator is now the ability to deeply integrate into specific application environments, such as commercial services and logistics. He used the JD.com collaboration as an example, where Pudu's robots are tailored to warehouse and delivery tasks.

According to Wu, companies that master scenario-specific solutions will gain a sustainable advantage. He also noted that the industry is shifting from standalone robots to embodied intelligence systems that can perceive and act autonomously. The road ahead requires close cooperation with customers to refine use cases, making scene comprehension the ultimate battleground.