The Qingdao Embodied Intelligence Robotics Innovation Center has been completed in the city's AI industrial park. [Photo/Guanhai News]

Qingdao is stepping up the development of its embodied artificial intelligence industry, with more than 600 AI and robotics companies now operating across key segments of the industrial chain.

The city is building an increasingly complete ecosystem around three essential elements of embodied AI — robot hardware, intelligent models and training data — as robots move beyond remote-controlled demonstrations toward autonomous operation in real-world settings.

On the hardware front, local companies are strengthening their capabilities in core components and complete robot systems. Qingdao Fengguang Precision Machinery has achieved mass production of a full range of harmonic reducers for humanoid robots, while Guohua Intelligent Equipment has achieved an annual production capacity of 100,000 harmonic reducers, 50,000 rotary joints and 3,000 humanoid robots.

A humanoid robot undergoes training at a data collection facility in Qingdao. [Photo/Guanhai News]

Qingdao is also expanding its capacity in AI models. Leju Robotics recently released KUAVO-VLA, an industry-focused vision-language-action model that can reduce the data and computing costs of developing new industrial skills by more than 50 percent and shorten training cycles from weeks to days.

Training data, another crucial part of embodied AI, is also gaining momentum. Eight projects in Qingdao were included in Shandong province's first batch of 26 priority training grounds for embodied robots, the highest number among cities in the province.

Backed by its advanced manufacturing base, AI capabilities and diverse industrial applications, Qingdao is working to turn these strengths into a more integrated embodied AI ecosystem.