More than 1,100 companies gathered in Shanghai this past July for the World Artificial Intelligence Conference. State media confirmed that Chinese firms have now built more than 400 different humanoid robot models, over half the world's total, with annual output projected to top 100,000 units this year.

Soren Kaplan breaks down why most leaders are watching the wrong scoreboard. China's best AI model may not beat America's best model yet, but DeepSeek trained its R1 model for roughly $6 million against a reported $100 million for comparable U.S. systems, and Unitree already sells a full-size humanoid for under $6,000. You don't lose to a rival's best product. You lose to their good enough product at a price you can't match.

Soren lays out three moves for leaders: change your scoreboard to measure cost and volume, not just flagship performance, put your team physically inside a competitor's market to see the scale firsthand, and track adoption instead of announcements to spot your real rivals.

View original on Inc. Magazine: The FCC Just Banned Chinese Humanoid Robots. That’s Not the Story Business Leaders Should Focus On

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