On Sunday, Shanghai-based robotics start-up Agibot live-streamed an almost hour-long variety show featuring its humanoid robots dancing, performing acrobatics and magic tricks, lip-syncing ballads and appearing in comedy sketches. Additional Agibot robots were positioned in an audience section, waving and reacting as spectators.
The broadcast drew an estimated 1.4 million viewers on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, according to the company, although Agibot said it did not yet have a full estimate of total viewership across platforms. The event was also streamed on RedNote, Sina Weibo, TikTok and Douyin, and aired on Chinese-language television networks HTTV and iCiTi TV. Agibot described the event as “the world’s first robot-powered gala.”
The show aired a week ahead of China Central Television’s annual Spring Festival gala, a nationally watched programme that has increasingly become a high-profile platform for Chinese robotics firms to demonstrate their technological progress. In 2025, a group of 16 full-size humanoid robots developed by Hangzhou-based Unitree performed alongside human dancers during the CCTV gala, drawing widespread attention and praise from millions of viewers.
Less than three weeks after that appearance, Unitree’s founder was invited to attend a high-level symposium chaired by Chinese President Xi Jinping. The company has since been preparing for a potential initial public offering, highlighting how visibility at state-backed events can translate into political and commercial momentum for robotics firms.
This year’s CCTV Spring Festival gala will feature humanoid robots from four start-ups—Unitree, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab—according to the broadcaster and the companies involved.
Agibot, meanwhile, said more than 200 robots were deployed for its independently staged gala. The company develops humanoid robots intended for use in education, entertainment and factory settings, and has previously demonstrated two of its robots to President Xi during an official visit in April last year. Reuters has reported that Agibot plans to pursue an initial public offering in Hong Kong.
Public reaction to the performances has been strong. “When robots begin to understand Lunar New Year and begin to have a sense of humour, the human-computer interaction may come faster than we think,” wrote Ma Hongyun, a photographer and writer with 4.8 million followers on Weibo.
China’s rapid advances in humanoid robotics are also drawing attention abroad. U.S. billionaire Elon Musk, who has shifted Tesla’s strategic focus toward artificial intelligence and its Optimus humanoid robot, has said that Chinese companies represent the only serious competitive threat he faces in robotics. Like his Chinese counterparts, Musk has used promotional stunts to highlight progress, including deploying human-guided robots as bartenders at an event in 2024.
As humanoid robots increasingly feature in high-profile cultural events, industry observers say their role as entertainers reflects a broader push by Chinese firms to normalise human-robot interaction while signalling technological capability to both domestic and global audiences.