China has invested heavily in robotics. The country is a leader in industrial robots per capita and has just hosted the first "World Humanoid Robot Games" in Beijing.

Technology is moving fast, sometimes faster than people are ready for. In the past decade we have seen robots take on roles that once belonged only to humans. Machines now clean our homes, write texts,

Kaiwa Technology, based in Guangzhou, announced the ambitious project at the 2025 World Robot Conference in Beijing, saying it aims to provide an alternative for those who wish to avoid human gestation.

In August 2025, a rumor began to spread that a "pregnancy robot" was in development in China. Social media posts and articles circulated with different AI-generated images of such a robot, including varying amounts of details. For example, a Facebook post ( archived) said this robot would cost under 100,000 yuan (less than $14,000):

Unlike an incubator that supports premature babies, this robot would replicate the entire gestational process from conception to delivery.

China kicked off the three-day long World Humanoid Robot Games on Friday, looking to showcase its advances in artificial intelligence and robotics with 280 teams from 16 countries.

A video is going viral on social media, posted on Instagram, showing kids in China playing with a robot as if it were human. The video has left the internet divided. While many find it amusing, others are concerned.

The Nanyang Technological University graduate will sell a prototype of the robot for about £10,000 (100,000 yuan) in 2026 if all goes to plan. Reports from local media claim that the robot is designed to mimic the whole process of pregnancy, though the process behind how the egg and sperm are fertilised currently isn't clear.