Turing Laureate Sutton's Team Opens Robot Kindergarten in Beijing

At the start of the September school term, Shougang Park in Beijing's Shijingshan district welcomed a group of unusual students. They came from companies such as Unitree Robotics and Accelerated Evolution, varying in form—some seated on chairs, others walking freely.

This is the "robot kindergarten," jointly established by Tashi Tech and Openmind, the team of 2024 Turing Award winner Richard Sutton. It recently opened.

The kindergarten has three core areas: testing, learning, and interaction. Rather than being centrally trained, the robots learn continuously like children—through perception, action, feedback, and reflection.

Unlike previous embodied AI training centers, where robots mimic human motions to acquire skills, this kindergarten takes a different path: letting robots make mistakes in real environments.

"This is not simply centralizing robot training," said Hou Guangdong, vice president of R&D at Tashi Tech. The goal, he said, is for robots to interact with the world like children and gradually form their own intelligence.

In the testing zone, a robot sits on a chair covered with Tashi Tech's tactile skin. When someone grips its arm firmly, it can sense the pressure and say it hurts.