At the World AI Conference (WAIC 2026) in Shanghai, the robots have gone soft — literally.
The consumer-side debut of the show is Bubbo 1 by Cylingo Robotics: plush head, wheeled base, and a pitch built on “active intelligence” — it remembers you, reads your emotions, and starts conversations on its own.
Nearby, Mind with Heart Robotics shows WuxinPanda — a lifelike “therapeutic-grade” robotic panda aimed at emotional therapy and elderly care. Its booth looks less like a lab and more like a pile of pandas.
Interviews with companion-robot makers across the venue point to one pattern: a whole ecosystem of soft AI. Furry pets with glass eyes, talking plush toys for kids — all running large language models. iMoochi’s AI pet just launched in China at RMB 1,699 (~$240); a children’s plush companion sells for RMB 399, about $55. Even China Unicom is planning to sell LLM plush toys with built-in 4G.
China is fusing frontier AI models with its toy factories and electronics supply chain — producing AI cheap enough and cute enough for any living room.
