--- title: "Chinese Companies Are Unleashing AI-Powered Robo-Chefs" description: "Chinese companies showcased a number of advanced cooking robots at the World Robotics Conference in Beijing." date: "2026-08-28" modified: "2026-08-28" authors: - name: "Joe Wilkins" job_title: "Correspondent" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jwilkins" url: "https://futurism.com/robots-and-machines/chinese-companies-ai-robot-cooking-beijing" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" --- # Chinese Companies Are Unleashing AI-Powered Robo-Chefs ![A humanoid robot prepares a healthy meal during the 2026 World AI Conference and High-Level Meeting on Global AI Governance.]() *Tang Yanjun/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images* Chinese engineers are zeroing in on one of the loftiest goals in applied robotics: fully automated cooking. At the buzzy World Robotics Conference in Beijing, the company Oak Deer Robotics revealed three kitchen aids designed to advance the state of kitchen automation, [*China Daily* shared](). A mix of standalone appliances and humanoid robots, the new products include a "multimodal cooking AI model" called CookingMuse, a new AI-integrated cooking robot apparatus, as well as a fully-automated food cart with a little humanoid chef called RobotCook. According to *CD*, the basic cooking robot went through two live cooking demonstrations, stir-frying tofu as well as pork and green peppers. Per the [company's website](), its robots are meant to prepare "Chinese stir-fry dishes," which it does with a robotic wok capable of hitting 300 degrees Celsius, an ingredient dispensing system, as well as an AI "fully self-developed stir-frying algorithm." The partially state-owned Oak Deer is said to have cooking robots in over 300 cities and 4,000 stores across the country, [*China Entrepreneur Magazine* reported]() last year. Another robotics company called Hikrobots, [flagged by *Reuters*]() photographers, set up a few humanoid robots within the main expo center to demonstrate basic fast-food restaurant service. Footage [captured by *DWS News*]() shows the apron-clad humanoids prepping an order, by gingerly placing assorted foodstuffs into a bucket, before placing the bucket onto a serving tray. The Hikrobots aren't swift, but they showcase one possible future for the world of humanoid robotics. https://youtu.be/75vPZvfsJto?si=ZnDCUW3_0SnItcwX&t=3258 Outside the conference hall, a robot-powered noodle shop called "Yujian Weilai" began trial operations in southwestern Beijing, per [the *Global Times*](). Said to be the city's first fully-equipped robot noodle restaurant, it features three noodle dishes: mushroom zhajiang noodles, tomato beef brisket, and braised beef noodles. Basically, the restaurant's robots begin by boiling the noodles, adding broth, meat, and other toppings, while a robotic arm transfers the entree to a delivery robot. Humans are presumably still required to prep and load the ingredients every day, but the actual process of cooking and serving the food happens with minimal interference. "What we are trying to do is turn the machine's parameters into numbers, and use that to standardize every single bowl," the restaurant's general manager Li Pengzhen told *GT*. While completely automated robots capable of preparing all kinds of meals remain a long way off, the [swift advances]() in Chinese robo-chefing is clearly turning up the heat in Beijing. **More on Chinese tech:** *[Chinese Startup Shows Off Robot Horse You Can Actually Ride]()* ## Author At Futurism, I focus on the intersection of technology and power — examining the economics, history, and politics behind today’s dystopian headlines. As a writer, I’m interested in topics ranging from AI’s impact on labor to startups nobody asked for. My prior work includes bylines in Jacobin, Verso, and Blue Labyrinths. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Forbes, The Guardian, MIT Technology Review, Time, The Nation, Mother Jones, The Verge, and Wired. I grew up in Michigan, attending Central Michigan University as well as Ball State University, where I earned a master of music. I now live in Brooklyn with my girlfriend and our cat Ziti. On weekends, you can find me hunched over a cold pint arguing geopolitics with the other transplants. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()