Your First Humanoid Robot Coworker Will Probably Be Chinese

The 4-foot-tall humanoid robot that’s in front of me seems, quite honestly, a bit drunk. It leaps from one leg to the other, waving its arms. After 30 seconds or so it abruptly stops, then strides toward me with an arm outstretched.

The little robot is at the World Artificial Intelligence Conference, on the banks of the Huangpu river in Shanghai. The convention center is teeming with humanoids—dancing ones, box-toting ones, robot dog-walking ones doing circuits around trade show booths. A few lie slumped in a corner as their batteries recharge.

It’s a balmy day in July, and I’ve come to Shanghai to learn how China’s AI world differs from the Western one I usually cover. I’d immediately noticed the sleek electric cars from ...