Recently, according to reports from financial media outlets, the well-known humanoid robotics company CloudMinds has reportedly shut down. Its headquarters building is now empty, and its branch offices are even facing utility shutoffs. Multiple insiders revealed that the company has been closed for some time, leaving employees struggling to recover unpaid salaries, which has drawn significant attention.
Since the beginning of this year, many of CloudMinds' technical staff have started seeking new opportunities with other humanoid robot manufacturers. Reports indicate that starting from February last year, the company began halving the portion of employee wages above 10,000 yuan. By March and April, salary payments were completely suspended, and recruitment activities came to a halt. In May, the company distributed a one-time payment of 10,000 yuan to all employees, but afterward, housing fund contributions and social security payments ceased. Starting in June, a large number of employees were forced to leave, with nearly 500 staff members laid off.
Besides salary issues, CloudMinds also owes substantial supplier payments and bank loans. According to the Tianyancha app, CloudMinds Robotics Co., Ltd. is involved in over 20 legal cases, with a total enforcement amount reaching 35.3 million yuan. Since January 2024, the company has repeatedly been listed as an enforcement target, signaling serious financial difficulties.
Prior to the news of CloudMinds' dissolution, the company had signed a strategic cooperation agreement with Xiamen Songlix Robotics Technology Co., Ltd. in March this year to jointly develop and promote a humanoid robot equipped with "nimble hands" for healthcare applications. Additionally, in February, Guohua announced a cooperation framework agreement with CloudMinds to establish a joint venture in Hong Kong. However, these positive developments did not alleviate CloudMinds' struggles, leaving industry experts more concerned about its sudden collapse.
According to insiders, despite the challenges, CloudMinds has not given up. Founder and CEO Bill Huang continues to seek new financing channels. As a unicorn in the embodied intelligence sector, CloudMinds has attracted significant attention since its establishment in 2018, receiving backing from top-tier venture capital firms like Alibaba and SoftBank. As of July 2023, the company completed four rounds of financing, raising approximately 5.4 billion yuan in total.
Despite heavy investments in technology and operations, CloudMinds failed to meet market expectations. Its bipedal robots lagged behind competitors in functionality, motion dynamics, and user experience. The practical application effects of its cloud-based brain and flexible joints also fell short of market recognition. Moreover, uncontrolled expansion led to a broken capital chain, contributing significantly to its current predicament. The company set up branches across multiple cities, made frequent external investments, and hired high-salary personnel rapidly, accelerating cash burn.
A search reveals that over the past year, several other humanoid robotics companies, such as Cancong Robotics and Lingbei Robotics, have also been reported to shut down. Additionally, Zhu Xiaohu, managing partner of GSR Ventures, announced his exit from the humanoid robotics project due to unclear commercialization paths. Some predict that behind the rapid development of humanoid robots lies significant risk, and by late 2025 to early 2026, the industry may face a wave of closures. The embodied intelligence sector could be entering a "reshuffling" phase, leading to fiercer competition within the industry.
