At its 2025 AI Day, Chinese EV maker XPeng Inc unveiled IRON, a highly advanced humanoid robot prototype that immediately drew comparisons to Tesla’s Optimus. The lifelike robot demonstrated fluid walking, precise gestures, and human-like motion, reflecting XPeng’s philosophy of “extreme anthropomorphism.” A staged demonstration, in which engineers cut open IRON’s leg to prove no human operator was inside, went viral and highlighted the sophistication of its hardware.
IRON’s mechanical design mirrors human anatomy, featuring a bone–muscle–skin framework, 82 degrees of freedom, and hands with 22 degrees of freedom per hand using miniature bevel gear joints. This enables delicate manipulation and interaction in human-centric environments. The robot is powered by all-solid-state batteries, leveraging XPeng’s EV supply chain for improved energy density and safety, critical for deployment in commercial or public spaces.
On the software side, IRON runs XPeng’s Physical-World Large Model, a multi-modal AI stack that integrates three subsystems: VLA (action generation), VLM (language and social interaction), and VLT (autonomous reasoning and task planning). It operates on three in-house Turing AI chips, delivering 3,000 TOPS of processing power to handle real-time sensory input, movement, and decision-making, while maintaining local privacy of data.
XPeng is pursuing a phased rollout, initially targeting controlled commercial environments such as museums, showrooms, and industrial facilities. Mass production is slated for the end of 2026, potentially ahead of Tesla’s Optimus. XPeng is also building an ecosystem with industrial partners and releasing an open SDK to encourage third-party applications, positioning IRON as a platform rather than a single product.
Beyond humanoids, XPeng is expanding its AI-first mobility strategy, including robotaxis and the hybrid Land Aircraft Carrier, a road-and-air vehicle. The company is also developing 200 sky camps in China for safe piloting of its electric aircraft.
Although XPeng’s vehicle sales remain smaller than Tesla’s, projected at 400,000 versus Tesla’s eight million this year, the company’s integrated approach to robotics, AI, and mobility signals China’s growing influence in the global humanoid robot market. Elon Musk acknowledged XPeng as a serious competitor, suggesting that the humanoid robotics market is evolving into a duopoly dominated by American and Chinese players. XPeng’s combination of human-centric design, advanced AI, and automotive-scale manufacturing positions it as a formidable contender in this emerging industrial race.