At IFA 2026 in Berlin, Chinese technology company Xpeng said its humanlike robot IRON has begun mass production, a move that could push household robotics closer to everyday use.
The company added that IRON may become the first humanoid robot to roll off the factory line using its own power, a milestone for a machine it ultimately hopes will assist people at home.
Here's what to know
According to Xpeng representatives who spoke with Live Science, the company is making IRON in its current factories, although it has not disclosed how many units it plans to build.
Live Science said the production version is about 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs 143 pounds, with 76 degrees of freedom overall and 21 in each hand. It can also travel at around 6.5 feet per second.
The robot is designed to take instructions, figure out how to carry out tasks, and move around obstacles on its own. A built-in "self-charging" feature lets it find its charging cabin and dock there when its battery gets low.
Xpeng said IRON could eventually handle household jobs, including cleaning and folding laundry.
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The company plans to use IRON internally first, putting the robots to work at its showrooms and tech campuses. According to Live Science, shipments to commercial customers in China are expected to start in 2027 for roles such as customer service and guided tours.
More background
For many humanoid robots, factory-scale rollout is still the exception, with most remaining better known as demos than as finished products built at scale.
As Live Science noted, one of robotics' biggest hurdles is coping with the unpredictability of everyday environments. Floors get cluttered, objects shift around, and people's instructions aren't always specific.
Xpeng says IRON addresses that problem with the same "world model" approach used in the company's vehicle AI systems and flying-car work, aiming to help the robot interpret its surroundings and think several moves ahead.
Each IRON uses three Turing AI chips, Live Science reported, for a total of 2,250 trillion operations per second. That's enough onboard computing power for it to run a Llama 3.2-like model directly on the device instead of depending on internet access.
In Live Science's comparison of the field, Figure AI's Figure 03 was described as already in mass production, AGIBOT was said to have reached 15,000 units in June, and Tesla's delayed Optimus still hasn't entered mass production.
What's being done?
Customer greetings, guided tours, and routine support work are repetitive tasks that could improve service for visitors while letting workers focus on more complex interactions.
If a robot can eventually clean, fold laundry, follow spoken instructions, avoid obstacles, and recharge itself, it could make daily life easier by taking over chores many people would rather not do.
As Xpeng chairman and CEO He Xiaopeng put it: "We aim to build a new type of robot with full generalization capabilities that can truly become part of everyday life, create a better life for people, and ultimately become a companion in their lives."
Where can I learn more?
Humanoid robots are moving beyond eye-catching demos and into real jobs. These articles look at how automakers and robotics companies are putting similar machines to work on factory floors while working toward everyday use.
• At another Chinese automaker, humanoid robots are working as factory interns on EV assembly tasks.
• Hyundai is testing a new manufacturing role for humanoid robots inside its EV operations.
• Across industry, engineers are building robots that could change cleanup, logistics, and daily work.
• Other developers are advancing machines making the world better through service, care, and maintenance.
These stories make it clearer how fast the humanoid-robot race is moving past the prototype stage. They also put Xpeng's IRON in context as the company tries to turn a factory-built robot into a useful asset to the average home.
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