- XPeng introduced its Iron humanoid robot, featuring lifelike movement and advanced in-house AI chips, at the 2025 AI Day event.
- Elon Musk described Tesla’s Optimus robot as the company’s most significant product, expecting large-scale adoption.
- Public sentiment on Stocktwits was described as ‘extremely bullish’ for XPeng and ‘bullish’ for Tesla, with high volume for both.
- The timing of Musk’s and He Xiaopeng’s posts showcased a growing competition between leading U.S. and Chinese electric vehicle makers in the AI and robotics sector.
- XPeng shares have more than doubled this year, while Tesla shares are up 10%.
XPeng unveiled its new humanoid robot, Iron, during the 2025 AI Day event. The robot’s public demonstration highlighted natural, fluid movements and realistic posture, made possible by advanced hardware and software developed internally by XPeng. The announcement marks a new phase in the ongoing technology rivalry between Tesla and XPeng.
Shortly after Elon Musk released a video featuring Tesla’s Optimus humanoid robot alongside another robot visually similar to Iron, He Xiaopeng, CEO of XPeng, emphasized on social media that “the robot that mastered the catwalk is built by a Chinese startup”. Iron is equipped with a humanoid spine, bionic muscles, flexible skin, a curved display on its head, and hands that offer 22 degrees of freedom. It runs on XPeng’s second-generation VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model and three proprietary Turing AI chips that together provide 2,250 trillion operations per second (TOPS) in computing power. According to the company, Iron is designed to handle conversational tasks, walking, and interactive motion. The robot uses all-solid-state batteries for a lightweight and safe power solution, and it is initially aimed at commercial applications.
At a recent shareholder meeting, Elon Musk told investors that Optimus robots already operate autonomously within Tesla offices and return to their charging stations without supervision. Musk called Optimus “the biggest product of all time”, predicting that it could eventually reach “tens of billions” of units and even exceed the scale of cell phones. He also stated that the robot has the potential to help eliminate poverty and surpass the abilities of top human surgeons, as seen in a shared video.
The timing and nature of the announcements from both XPeng and Tesla underline intensifying competition in robotics and Artificial Intelligence between leading automakers in the United States and China. Tesla is pushing for regulatory clearance for its Full Self-Driving system in China by early 2026 and continues to invest in robotics and autonomous transport. Meanwhile, XPeng, which has backing from Alibaba, is increasing investment in AI-driven manufacturing and automation.
On Stocktwits, retail sentiment was described as “extremely bullish” for XPeng and “bullish” for Tesla, with high message volume. As one user remarked, “XPeng was already blowing Tesla out of the robot race.” Another user commented on the company’s rapid robotics progress, international gains, government support, and popularity on China’s TikTok. At this point in the year, U.S.-listed XPeng shares have more than doubled in value, while Tesla shares have risen by 10%.
✅ Follow BITNEWSBOT on Telegram, Facebook, LinkedIn, X.com, and Google News for instant updates.
Previous Articles:
- Google Warns of AI-Powered Malware Dynamically Altering Code
- AI-Powered Ransomware Found in VS Code Extension, Removed
- Microsoft President Sells $20M Shares Amid 5% Stock Drop
- Tesla OKs Musk’s $1T Pay; Eyes SpaceX IPO, Shareholder Access
- Seven Crypto Firms Unite to Standardize Crosschain Stablecoin Transfers
