China’s annual CCTV Spring Festival Gala — the country’s most-watched television event — this week doubled as a high-profile exhibition of Beijing’s industrial strategy, spotlighting humanoid robotics and artificial intelligence as pillars of its next manufacturing phase.

Often described as a cultural touchstone comparable in reach to the U.S. Super Bowl, the Lunar New Year broadcast drew 79% of live TV viewership in China last year. This year’s programme placed humanoid robots at the center of its opening segments, underscoring how closely state messaging and emerging industries are aligned.

Four robotics startups — Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix, and MagicLab — showcased their products in multiple sketches.

More than a dozen Unitree humanoids performed choreographed martial arts sequences using swords, poles, and nunchucks alongside child performers. One technically ambitious routine replicated the unstable footwork and backward falls of “drunken boxing,” demonstrating advances in dynamic balance, real-time motion planning, and fault recovery — the ability of robots to regain posture after collapse.

Four Noetix humanoids appeared in a comedic skit, while MagicLab robots performed synchronized choreography during the patriotic song “We Are Made in China.” The programme’s opening sketch also featured Alibaba’s AI chatbot Doubao, reinforcing the convergence of generative AI software and embodied robotic systems.

From Spectacle to State Strategy

The gala has long served as a platform to signal technological priorities — from China’s space programme to drones and high-speed rail. What distinguishes this year’s robotics-heavy programming is the maturity of the policy ecosystem behind it.

President Xi Jinping has elevated robotics to a strategic sector. Over the past year, Xi has met five robotics startup founders — a level of engagement comparable to his meetings with electric vehicle and semiconductor entrepreneurs. Weeks after last year’s gala, Unitree’s founder attended a high-profile technology symposium chaired by Xi, the first such gathering since 2018.

Analysts say visibility on the gala stage often translates into practical benefits. Companies featured prominently can gain accelerated access to procurement contracts, investor attention, and regulatory support. The pipeline from industrial policy to national broadcast is unusually direct.

The heightened exposure comes as leading humanoid firms, including AgiBot and Unitree, prepare for initial public offerings. The Lunar New Year holiday has also become a strategic launch window for domestic AI companies unveiling new frontier models, aligning media attention, capital markets activity, and state endorsement.

Research firm Omdia estimates that China accounted for roughly 90% of the approximately 13,000 humanoid robots shipped globally last year. Morgan Stanley projects that the figure will more than double to 28,000 units this year.

By comparison, U.S. efforts such as Tesla’s Optimus humanoid platform remain in earlier commercialization stages. Tesla CEO Elon Musk has acknowledged the competitive landscape, saying last month that Chinese firms are likely to be his strongest rivals as Tesla pivots toward embodied AI.

China’s humanoid push is rooted in long-term economic considerations. The country faces demographic pressure from an ageing workforce and slowing labor force growth. Policymakers view automation as a mechanism to preserve productivity and sustain industrial output.

Humanoid robots occupy a symbolic and functional position within Beijing’s “AI+ manufacturing” strategy. Unlike specialized industrial arms, humanoids are designed to operate in environments built for humans — warehouses, factories, logistics hubs, and eventually service sectors — allowing them to slot into existing infrastructure without major redesign.

Beijing-based analyst Poe Zhao said humanoids consolidate several Chinese advantages: AI model development, hardware supply chain control, and mass manufacturing capability. The country dominates production of key robotics components, including motors, sensors, and batteries, giving domestic firms cost advantages and scaling flexibility.

Technological Inflection Point

The martial arts demonstrations on national television were not merely theatrical. They highlighted specific technical advances:

• Multi-robot coordination in tightly choreographed environments.
• Real-time balance control during high-speed movements.
• Recovery mechanisms enabling robots to stand up after falls.
• Integration of perception systems capable of operating safely around human performers.

Such capabilities are prerequisites for commercial deployment in dynamic settings. As embodied AI systems evolve, their ability to operate safely and reliably in mixed human environments will determine market viability.

The integration of Alibaba’s Doubao chatbot into the broadcast further emphasized software-hardware convergence. As large language models mature, pairing them with robotic bodies creates pathways for autonomous task execution across manufacturing, logistics, and services.

China’s visibility campaign signals more than domestic confidence. It positions the country as a serious contender in embodied AI, a domain many analysts believe will define the next phase of technological competition.

The U.S. has traditionally led in foundational AI research, while China has leveraged manufacturing scale and supply chain integration. In humanoids, those comparative strengths converge: intelligence layers built on AI models combined with precision hardware mass production.

The spectacle of robots performing kung-fu on national television serves a dual purpose — cultivating public acceptance and signaling to global markets that commercialization is accelerating.

Attention as Strategic Capital

“In an early market, attention becomes a resource,” Zhao said. Early dominance in narrative, funding, and regulatory support can shape standards, ecosystems, and investor flows.

China’s approach blends industrial policy, capital markets mobilization, and cultural endorsement. Beijing reinforces humanoids as both a technological frontier and a national project by embedding robotics in a broadcast that reaches hundreds of millions of viewers.

As shipments scale and IPOs advance, the question will shift from demonstration to deployment: how quickly can humanoid systems transition from choreographed performances to economically productive roles across factories and service industries?

The Spring Festival Gala’s robotics showcase suggests that China intends to move rapidly on that transition — leveraging visibility, state coordination, and manufacturing depth to anchor humanoid robotics at the core of its next industrial cycle.

India’s wholesale price inflation accelerated to 1.81% in January — its fastest pace in 10 months — overshooting expectations as manufacturing costs and vegetable prices rebounded.

India’s wholesale price index (WPI) rose 1.81% year-on-year in January, according to data released by the Ministry of Commerce and Industry. The figure exceeded a Reuters poll forecast of 1.25% and marked a sharp pickup from December’s 0.83% increase. Wholesale inflation was last higher in March 2025, at 2.25%.

The January print reflects a broadening of price pressures across manufactured goods and food items, even as fuel costs continued to decline.

Manufactured product prices — which account for roughly two-thirds of the WPI basket — rose 2.86% year-on-year in January, up from 1.82% in December. Higher prices of basic metals, textiles, and processed food products led to the acceleration.

A global rally in metal prices has pushed up input costs for Indian manufacturers. Higher global prices for steel, aluminum, and other industrial metals typically feed into construction, capital goods, automobiles, and infrastructure-related industries.

Madan Sabnavis, chief economist at Bank of Baroda, attributed part of the rise to global economic and political conditions that have lifted commodity prices. If sustained, such pressures could narrow corporate margins or prompt further pass-through to downstream sectors.

The uptick in manufacturing inflation also suggests firm domestic demand conditions, as producers may find it easier to pass on cost increases when demand is resilient.

Food Inflation Rebounds on Vegetables

Wholesale food prices rose 1.41% year-on-year in January after remaining flat in December.

Vegetable prices climbed 6.78% year-on-year, reversing a 3.5% contraction the previous month. The swing pinpoints the seasonal volatility that characterizes India’s agricultural supply chain. Weather variations, transportation constraints, and supply adjustments can produce sharp month-to-month fluctuations.

The rebound in vegetable prices was a key driver of the overall WPI acceleration. However, broader food inflation remained relatively contained, indicating that the increase was concentrated rather than widespread across the food basket.

Persistent food inflation at the wholesale level can eventually feed into retail prices, though the transmission is neither immediate nor uniform.

Fuel Prices Provide Partial Relief

Fuel and power prices declined 4.01% year-on-year in January, deepening from a 2.31% fall in December. Lower energy costs helped moderate the headline figure and offset part of the pressure from metals and food.

Energy prices have historically played a stabilizing role in India’s inflation cycle when global crude oil markets soften. If fuel deflation persists, it may cushion future wholesale price increases.

However, energy remains sensitive to geopolitical developments and global supply dynamics. Any reversal in crude or coal prices could quickly alter the inflation trajectory.

Implications for Monetary Policy

Wholesale inflation does not directly determine policy decisions by the Reserve Bank of India, which targets consumer price inflation. Nonetheless, WPI is closely monitored as an indicator of pipeline pressures.

An acceleration in wholesale inflation can signal cost-push dynamics that may eventually filter into retail prices, particularly in manufactured goods.

Economists said the January increase is unlikely to alter the immediate policy stance, especially if consumer inflation remains within tolerance levels. Sabnavis noted that the higher wholesale print would not influence monetary policy decisions at this stage.

The latest data suggest that India’s price structure is shifting:

• Industrial input costs are rising, linked to global commodity movements.
• Food prices are showing renewed volatility.
• Energy costs are acting as a buffer.

This configuration indicates moderate cost-push inflation rather than demand-led overheating.
Analysts expect wholesale inflation to stay above 1% in the near term if global metal prices remain elevated and domestic manufacturing activity strengthens further. However, sustained increases would likely require either a broader food price surge or a reversal in fuel deflation.

However, rising input costs may affect pricing strategies and profitability for businesses. For policymakers, the key question is whether wholesale pressures translate into consumer inflation and wage adjustments.

Overall, January’s data signal that upstream price pressures are building again, though not yet at levels that suggest macroeconomic instability.

ByteDance announced on Monday that it is taking steps to strengthen safeguards on its newly launched AI video generator Seedance 2.0 to prevent unauthorized use of intellectual property, following cease-and-desist letters from major U.S. studios, including Disney and Paramount Skydance.

The move comes just days after Seedance 2.0 went viral in China for generating highly realistic cinematic content—including scenes featuring Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in a fight—drawing widespread comparisons to OpenAI’s Sora and DeepSeek’s video capabilities.

Disney’s letter, first reported by Axios on Sunday, accused ByteDance of using copyrighted characters from Star Wars, Marvel, and other franchises to train and power Seedance 2.0 without permission. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Disney alleged ByteDance had “pre-packaged” the model with a pirated library of characters, treating them as public-domain clip art. The letter claimed Seedance was reproducing, distributing, and creating derivative works featuring Spider-Man, Darth Vader, and other protected figures.

Paramount Skydance sent a similar cease-and-desist letter, accusing ByteDance of “blatant infringement” of its intellectual property, according to Variety over the weekend. ByteDance’s statement did not name specific studios or elaborate on the measures being implemented, saying only: “We are taking steps to strengthen current safeguards as we work to prevent the unauthorized use of intellectual property and likeness by users.”

The rapid response reflects the high legal and reputational stakes for ByteDance as it pushes Seedance 2.0—praised for controllability, speed, production efficiency, and polished first-try results—into both domestic and international markets. The model’s viral success during the early days of Lunar New Year has amplified attention, but also exposed it to immediate scrutiny from Hollywood studios protective of their IP.

Disney’s action follows a pattern. In recent months, the studio sent similar demands to Character.AI to stop unauthorized use of its characters. Notably, Disney signed a licensing deal with OpenAI in December 2025, granting the U.S. company rights to use Star Wars, Pixar, and Marvel characters in its Sora video generator—highlighting a stark contrast in how studios are willing to engage with U.S. versus Chinese AI firms.

Seedance 2.0’s ability to generate realistic videos from text prompts, images, or reference clips has drawn praise from creators. Stockholm-based creative advertising executive Billy Boman told CNBC the progress in AI video generation over the past two years has been “nothing short of exceptional.” Hugging Face researcher Adina Yakefu called Seedance 2.0 “one of the most well-rounded video generation models I’ve tested,” noting its ability to deliver satisfying results on simple prompts with polished visuals, music, and cinematography.

However, the controversy over IP infringement underscores a broader challenge for Chinese AI video generators. Hollywood studios view unauthorized use of their characters, likenesses, and copyrighted material as a direct threat to licensing revenue and brand control. ByteDance’s open-ended prompt flexibility—allowing users to generate content featuring well-known figures—has fueled viral clips but also invited swift legal pushback.

The timing is particularly sensitive as Seedance 2.0’s release and rapid viral spread occurred just before and during Lunar New Year, a high-engagement period when family sharing and social media usage spike. ByteDance appears to have aimed to dominate the conversation during the holiday, but the IP allegations risk overshadowing the technological achievement.

ByteDance has not yet responded publicly to the specific allegations from Disney and Paramount Skydance. The company’s statement focused on future safeguards rather than addressing past or current content generated by users.

The episode highlights growing friction between Chinese AI labs and Western content owners. While ByteDance, Alibaba (with RynnBrain), and Kuaishou (with Kling 3.0) have made rapid advances in video generation and embodied AI, U.S. studios are increasingly willing to enforce IP rights aggressively—especially when models can produce high-quality derivative works featuring protected characters. Disney’s licensing deal with OpenAI contrasts sharply with its stance toward Chinese firms, suggesting studios may be more open to partnerships with U.S. companies that can offer enforceable compliance and revenue-sharing arrangements.

The path forward will likely involve tighter content filters, stricter prompt moderation, and potentially licensing negotiations if ByteDance seeks broader international adoption.

The controversy arises as China’s AI video generation sector heats up. Seedance 2.0, Kling 3.0, and emerging competitors are closing the gap with OpenAI’s Sora in realism, controllability, and creative flexibility—often at lower cost and with fewer restrictions.