When the Next-Gen Iron humanoid was unveiled to the public earlier this month, strutting fluidly down the runway before a gobsmacked audience, it made headlines – but not for the reasons its creators at Xpeng had hoped. The robot moved so uncannily like a human that people were convinced there was someone inside controling it.
So, 24 hours after the company's launch at its 2025 AI Day in Guangzhou, CEO He Xiaopeng and team returned to the stage to address the skeptics – by cutting Iron open. Even for the multibillionaire it was a "rather forced last-resort solution," but he hoped taking to its clothed leg with a pair of scissors to expose its machinery beneath would settle the debate.
And, as you can see below, this was no Shanwei Zoo ruse – Iron is the real deal.
“Our robotics team felt quite wronged, they didn’t sleep all night and they didn’t let me sleep either," He said from the stage, then after the "big reveal," quipped, "We believe we don’t need any more proof,” as Iron again walked the stage.
Next-Gen Iron is an impressive leap from the first model unveiled in 2024, which signaled Xpeng's expansion from electric vehicles into AI and robotics innovation. The new Iron has a humanoid spine, bionic muscles and fully covered flexible skin (when it hasn't been sliced up with scissors). Its flexibility comes through its build, with 82 degrees of freedom (DoF) through its body and what the company calls the industry's smallest "harmonic joint" in its human-sized and styled hands that possesses 22 DoF.
Inside, it's also powered by all-solid-state batteries for high power and light weight, as well as Xpeng's second-generation VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model with three in-house-engineered Turing AI chips delivering 2,250 TOPS of computing might. Essentially, this humanoid can perform tasks like holding conversations, walking and interacting with humans or robots – but in a way that feels more human than robot.
We'd be remiss to not point out the obvious: while these models have been given human-like anatomical features, they're certainly cut from a Hollywood-style template of form. Still, the company says they'll be fully customizable for different body shapes when they eventually roll off the production line for the public.
As a fan of 2016's Westworld, it's hard not to draw some comparisons to the HBO series – it's not far-fetched to imagine an interactive open-world theme park in China populated with a cast of Irons. After all, He revealed on stage that the robots are expected to be rolled out during 2026 for use in commercial and public service areas, in positions such as tour guides and sales clerks.
"At the monetization plan level, Xpeng Next-Gen Iron will prioritize entering commercial scenarios to provide services such as guided tours, shopping guides, and traffic diversion," the company said in a statement.
However, there's no set timeline for when any Xpeng model will be available for household use.
"By the end of 2026, Xpeng aims to achieve large-scale mass production of high-level humanoid robots," He said during the launch.
There are reports that Elon Musk – who has been busy hyping his delayed Optimus humanoid project this month – commented, "Not bad … Tesla and China companies will dominate the market. Other companies in the West are weak," in a message, covered by Chinese media outlet Sohu.
Soon after, the Xpeng boss posted on X: “Let this stand as the final proof: the robot that mastered the catwalk is built by a Chinese startup.”
Source: Xpeng
