- Chinese embodied AI firms accelerate shift toward domestic computing platforms to diversify away from Nvidia GPUs
- Partnership combines Spirit’s robotics models with Horizon-linked AI hardware
Spirit AI (千寻科技), a Hangzhou-based humanoid robotics startup, said on May 20 it had entered a strategic partnership with chipmaker D-Robotics (地瓜机器人), marking a deeper push by China’s humanoid robotics sector to reduce dependence on Nvidia chips and build domestic embodied AI computing stacks.
The collaboration pairs Spirit AI’s embodied intelligence models with D-Robotics’ locally developed AI computing platform, as Chinese robotics firms increasingly seek alternatives to NVIDIA’s Orin and Thor processors that currently dominate the sector.
D-Robotics, which emerged from autonomous-driving technology provider Horizon Robotics (地平线机器人), focuses on embodied AI and robotics development platforms.
The two companies said they have already completed integration between Spirit AI’s open-source embodied model Spirit v1.5 and D-Robotics’ Sunrise S600 computing platform.
The companies said the partnership aims to develop mass-produced integrated hardware-and-software systems capable of moving embodied AI technologies from laboratories into industrial deployment.
Spirit AI said its Spirit v1.5 model can handle complex manipulation tasks ranging from delivering capsule toys and assembling candied hawthorn skewers to organizing cluttered tabletops while adapting to irregular objects and unexpected disturbances.
The company added the model demonstrates strong environmental generalization capabilities in unfamiliar settings, allowing stable execution across scenarios spanning factory production lines and household environments.
D-Robotics’ Sunrise S600 chip delivers 560 TOPS of INT8 AI computing performance and is designed specifically for embodied AI applications.
The company said the system supports large vision-language-action (VLA) models through a heterogeneous multi-core architecture optimized for stable inference.
Edge computing support
“The real value of embodied AI lies in leaving the lab and entering real industrial environments. The Sunrise S600 platform gives Spirit v1.5 the edge-side computing support needed to fully release its generalized manipulation and precision control capabilities in real-world scenarios,” said Han Fengtao, founder and chief executive of Spirit AI.
Wang Cong, CEO of D-Robotics, said the partnership combines Spirit AI’s deployment experience and customer resources with D-Robotics’ computing hardware and ecosystem capabilities, helping accelerate embodied AI commercialization.
The two companies said Spirit v1.5 can already achieve stable end-to-end inference on the Sunrise S600 platform after joint optimization work, with performance ranking among leading systems in comparable hardware categories.
The partnership will initially focus on industrial manufacturing, retail and commercial-service scenarios.
Spirit AI has already worked with major corporate customers including CATL, JD.com, Huawei Technologies and Bosch.
