Insight

Meet The $3 Billion Chinese Startup Solving Elon Musk’s Robotic Hands Problem

Another potential cloud looms. With the U.S.-China tech race intensifying, the Trump administration in late July banned imports of humanoid robot models and power inverters. The company says the restriction doesn’t cover makers of robotic hands, adding that Linkerbot’s relationship with its U.S. customers remains unaffected. However, the company could be slapped with high tariffs in the future, according to Ethan Qi, Beijing-based associate director at Counterpoint Research. If that comes to pass, component makers may opt for workarounds such as shifting production to Southeast Asia as Chinese garment manufacturers have done, he notes.

The humanoid robot industry is entering a new phase as advances in multimodal foundation models accelerate the evolution of robotic intelligence.