📰 AI News: China’s AgiBot Turns Robots Into On-Demand Rentals

📝 TL;DR

You can now rent humanoid and robot dogs in China like you would book a DJ or a photo booth. AgiBot has launched a robot leasing platform with daily rates that start under 30 dollars and go all the way up to more than 14,000 dollars for premium packages.

🧠 Overview

Chinese robotics startup AgiBot has launched a new platform that lets businesses rent robots for events, shows, security, and more. Instead of buying a six figure humanoid, you tap an app and bring one in for a day. It is a big step toward “robots as a service,” where advanced robotics are treated like flexible, on demand workers rather than massive capital purchases.

📜 The Announcement

AgiBot has rolled out a robot rental platform, also known locally as Qingtian Rent or BotShare, covering more than 50 cities in China with over 600 service providers and more than 1,000 robots available.

Customers can book via a WeChat mini program for more than 16 use cases, including business conferences, trade shows, concerts, weddings, and security patrols. Daily prices range from a few hundred yuan for basic robots to around 100,000 yuan, about 14,227 dollars, for premium “sports competition” packages that include multiple high end quadruped robots.

The company aims to expand to over 200 cities and hundreds of thousands of customers by 2026 as the robot rental market is projected to grow roughly tenfold.

⚙️ How It Works

• Platform model - The service connects robot manufacturers, rental operators, and end customers in a single marketplace instead of each company running their own small fleet.

• Wide range of robots - Available units include humanoid robots, quadruped “robot dogs,” bionic performers, and exoskeletons for tasks like security, performance, demo work, or heavy lifting.

• Massive price range - Entry level robots can cost roughly 200 to 500 yuan per day, while a high end two robot “sports competition” package can hit about 99,800 yuan, around 14,227 dollars, for a single day.

• Everyday booking flow - Rentals are handled through a mobile mini program, with scenario based packages for things like weddings, trade shows, concerts, and corporate events.

• Growing national network - The platform already operates in 50 cities and has plans to reach over 200 cities, with thousands of robots and service providers integrated into one system.

• Long term “1234 strategy” - By 2026, the platform is targeting more than 10 robot makers, 200 top rental partners, 3,000 content creators, and 400,000 customers, turning robot rental into a large scale industry rather than a niche novelty.

💡 Why This Matters

• Robots become an operating expense, not a giant purchase - Renting turns robots from “maybe one day” purchases into something companies can test, use for a campaign, then send back when the job is done.

• Real world test bed for embodied AI - Putting robots into weddings, shows, and factories gives a huge stream of real data and edge cases, which helps improve the AI that powers movement, interaction, and safety.

• Accessibility jumps for smaller players - Event planners, small agencies, schools, and local venues that could never justify buying a humanoid robot can now access them for a day or a weekend.

• Early signal of a bigger robotics wave - A tenfold growth forecast for the rental market suggests robots are moving from demos and trade show hype into everyday commercial use.

• New jobs and businesses around robots - Beyond the hardware, this kind of platform needs operators, choreographers, safety supervisors, content creators, and workflow designers, which opens new service niches.

🏢 What This Means for Businesses

• Try robots without long term risk - You can experiment with robots at events or in pilot workflows as a short term rental, then decide later whether it is worth a deeper investment.

• Upgrade your experiences, not your headcount - For conferences, product launches, retail activations, or weddings, a rented humanoid or robot dog can become the “wow” moment without hiring a huge additional crew.

• Prototype robot enabled services - Agencies, educators, and studios can design robot based performances, tours, or interactive experiences and test them with rentals before building full offerings.

• Prepare your workflows for embodied AI - Even if you are not renting robots today, this is a cue to start thinking about where physical automation could plug into your logistics, hospitality, retail, or manufacturing flows.

• Differentiate your brand story - Being early to experiment with real world robotics lets you position your business as forward thinking, as long as you tie the robot usage to a clear outcome like better engagement, smoother operations, or more memorable events.

🔚 The Bottom Line

AgiBot’s new platform is another sign that AI is not staying trapped inside screens. It is walking into events, patrolling venues, and performing on stage, and you do not need a giant robotics budget to get involved.

For the AI Advantage community, this is a reminder that the next wave of opportunity is not just software prompts, it is services and experiences built around intelligent machines you can rent on demand.

💬 Your Take

If renting a robot for a day was as easy as booking a photographer, where would you use one first, an event, a marketing stunt, a training workshop, or something completely different?

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