📰 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.