
Ant Group, backed by Jack Ma, entered the humanoid robot race by unveiling its first model, the R1, at the 2025 Inclusion Conference on the Bund in Shanghai.
Through its unit Robbyant, the Alibaba Group (NYSE:BABA) fintech affiliate aims to position humanoids as a gateway to making AI-powered assistants mainstream, setting itself apart by focusing on the "brains" rather than the hardware.