Shenzhen robot maker turns to Hong Kong for computing power and listing

An EngineAI robot performs a demonstration for the media at the Convention and Exhibition Centre in Wan Chai.

Photo: Elson Li A Shenzhen-based tech firm taking part in Hong Kong trade fairs is leveraging the city as a springboard for global expansion, with plans to list locally this year while using its computing power to help enter the North American market.

Robert Chan Kwok-cheung, global strategy officer at EngineAI, said on Wednesday the company’s presence in the city was a strategic move to bypass technical and geopolitical hurdles.

EngineAI, which is one of Shenzhen’s “eight great guardians of embodied intelligence”, will be among 3,700 exhibitors from 28 countries and regions taking part in InnoEX and the Hong Kong Electronics Fair, which run concurrently from April 13 to 16.

The fairs are being organised by the Trade Development Council.

Chan said the company’s humanoid robots were capable of running and performing controlled front flips and featured a wide range of functions at two price points.

A standard unit intended for performance or display is priced at 88,000 yuan (US$12,745), while a fully open-source version with integrated functions such as navigation and scanning costs 188,000 yuan.

The higher-end model had already been acquired by local schools and companies for scientific research, technical trials and exhibitions, according to Chan.

The robots had also been adopted by Middle East companies for security and patrol functions due to their ability to withstand hot weather, he added.

EngineAI has grown from 30 employees last year to 300, with a primary focus on research and development (R&D).

The expansion prompted the registration of a Hong Kong division as a move to build global growth, Chan said. “The current plan is to list the company in Hong Kong this year,” he said. “We want to leverage Hong Kong as a high-value international platform to showcase the latest R&D achievements and expand into overseas markets.” Global strategy officer Robert Chan with one of the company’s robots. “Mainland China’s cloud services cannot reach overseas,” he said.

Photo: Elson Li He also said the city’s computing power was a decisive factor in the company’s strategy, as it was impractical to house all necessary processing power within the robot’s body due to the high cost of specialised chips.

These systems typically relied on cloud-based infrastructure to function effectively, Chan said. “Mainland China’s cloud services cannot reach overseas

原文链接: 南华早报