China has laid out a national strategy that includes robotics as a new frontier in technological development, and to this end, Beijing is encouraging local governments and the private sector to invest in robotics start-ups. In Western countries, companies ranging from start-ups to tech giants are engaged in a similar race to develop and demonstrate robots with “human” capabilities, beginning with foundational models on which developers can build. This global race to create a scalable robot, despite what the public may see mostly as fanfare, such as humanoids participating in dancing demonstrations broadcast online, is a longer game than many headlines around the world would suggest.