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This Company’s Terminator-Style Robot Is Low-Key Terrifying

Joe Wilkins

created: Nov. 12, 2025, 7:03 p.m. | updated: Nov. 22, 2025, 7:03 p.m.

The humanoid robot developed by Chinese company XPeng might have an impressive gait, but its mechanical innards are a sight to behold. Called “Iron,” the bipedal unit has been the talk of robot-watchers around the world, as XPeng enters the second week of its all-out media blitz. In the days since, the company’s PR has increasingly featured an undressed version of the robot, which is frankly unsettling to behold. One video shared by XPeng’s X-formerly-Twitter account shows a naked Iron unit running through a tai chi routine, displaying remarkable sensitivity to minute shifts in balance. For example, the uber-complicated five degree of freedom waist has been a point of failure in other units.

3 months ago: Futurism