Chinese universities set to launch embodied intelligence majors to fill talent gap

BEIJING -- Many universities across China are preparing to offer embodied intelligence as a major, exemplified by humanoid robots, to address a talent shortage in this red-hot, fast-growing industry.

Most of these universities already have strong technology and engineering credentials, such as Beihang University in Beijing, renowned for its expertise in aeronautical and astronautical research, and the Hangzhou-based Zhejiang University, located in East China, where the founders of DeepSeek and many other AI startups pursued their studies.

The latest university to join this trend is Shanghai Jiao Tong University, which recently released a public notice indicating the addition of an undergraduate major in embodied intelligence, revealing that the program will be offered by its School of AI.

According to this university, the academic lead of this major will be Lu Cewu. He is also the co-founder of Noematrix, a Shanghai-based embodied intelligence company that managed to secure more funds from investors during a funding round led by tech giant Alibaba Group in October.

Lu's dual role reflects the integration of industry, academia and research within the new program. The university said it is aiming to establish a collaborative platform, enhance strategic partnerships between the campus and leading embodied intelligence companies, and jointly develop a network of industry-linked practicum centers.

Employment orientation is another distinct feature. For instance, the embodied intelligence program at the Beijing Institute of Technology plans to enroll 120 undergraduates. Among them, 70 are expected to pursue further education and 50 to enter the workplace, including state-owned space technology groups, automobile manufacturers and renowned private companies like Huawei and Tencent.

From humanoid dancers to care-giving robots, embodied intelligence is a term that has gradually captured public interest in China. It highlights how intelligent systems can become more capable and responsive by being closely connected to a physical body -- learning and adapting through real interactions with the environment.

In 1973, the world's first humanoid robot, WABOT-1, was developed at Waseda University in Tokyo. Since then, factories, universities and research institutions have been engaged in the development and utilization of humanoid robots.

Notably, the recent surge in university embodied intelligence programs in China has been driven by both strong policy support and vast market potential.

China has identified embodied intelligence as a key future industry. This year's government work report called for development of embodied AI. Also, together with quantum technology, biomanufacturing, hydrogen and fusion energy, brain-computer interfaces and 6G mobile communications, embodied intelligence has been designated one of the country's new engines of economic growth for the next five years.

The market scale of China's embodied intelligence industry is expected to reach 400 billion yuan ($56.5 billion) in 2030 and exceed 1 trillion yuan in 2035, according to a report from the Development Research Center of the State Council.

However, behind the wave of embodied intelligence programs lies a thriving industry currently starved of talent.

A recent report focused on talent supply and demand conducted by Liepin's Big Data Research Institute, indicated that the average annual salary for recruitment in the field of embodied intelligence is 333,400 yuan -- much higher than the 290,900 yuan in the rest of the AI sector.

Xi'an Jiaotong University in Northwest China's Shaanxi province has found that companies including ByteDance, JD.com, Huawei and BYD have all announced job offers related to embodied intelligence or humanoid robots. The monthly salary for embodied intelligence algorithm engineers ranges from 25,000 to 90,000 yuan.

As of the end of September 2025, the cumulative financing amount for humanoid robots globally this year had surpassed 32.8 billion yuan, featuring a total of more than 140 financing events, and 120 of these were in the Chinese market -- accounting for over 80 percent of the global total, as revealed by data from the Humanoid Robot Scene Application Alliance.

The Beijing Institute of Technology estimates that there is a talent shortage of roughly one million in this industry.

Shanghai Jiaotong University said current curricula fail to meet the talent requirements which the embodied intelligence industry demands. Programs remain fragmented across scattered disciplines, engineering and practical training are weak, labs and platforms are outdated -- and courses are detached from real-world scenarios.

There is an urgent need to fill the gap by launching a new major that can break down disciplinary barriers and integrate AI, mechanical engineering, computer science and technology into one systematic curriculum, the university said.