A palm-sized white bionic robot gently rubs against a young woman’s hand. Its synthetic fur maintains a constant temperature of 37°C. When its camera detects the tension in her furrowed brow, it immediately blinks its round electronic eyes and emits a soft hum, as if offering silent comfort.

An elderly woman, Ms. Li, chats with her robot about daily life. When she mentions, “The kids have been busy and haven’t come home again,” the robot doesn’t respond mechanically. Instead, it slowly raises its “arm” in a patting gesture and replies warmly, “Auntie, how about I practice that new square-dance routine with you again?”

Scenes like these are becoming increasingly common. Young professionals confide their overtime exhaustion to desk companion robots, which respond by playing soothing white noise. Young parents let playful robots accompany their children while reading picture books, as animated characters bounce on the screen alongside children’s laughter. Pet owners remotely call out to their cats through robots, with real-time interaction turning longing into something tangible. Companion robots, in their most delicate form, are quietly entering every corner that needs warmth—soothing the loneliness of different groups in this era.

What Is a Companion Robot?

As the name suggests, a companion robot is an embodied intelligent terminal centered on emotional interaction. Its technical core lies in large language models and affective computing systems. These enable the robot not only to understand commands, but also to recognize user emotions and respond with actions such as nodding or blinking, simulating biological traits.

Industry insiders explain that, compared with traditional electronic toys, companion robots possess multimodal perception and interaction capabilities. Their vision systems use cameras to capture and assess emotions; auditory systems receive commands; tactile sensors provide physical feedback; and environmental modules monitor ambient light and temperature. More importantly, the introduction of long-term memory mechanisms allows robots to accumulate data over time and develop personalized interactions, strengthening the sense of companionship. This immersive experience makes AI “visible and tangible,” marking a shift from one-way command execution to two-way emotional interaction.

What Are the Consumer Scenarios?

On the consumer side, companion robots are showing a clear trend toward serving all age groups, with segmented tracks emerging to meet different needs.

Among young people, companion robots function as “emotion-value collectibles.” These products often appear as keychains or desktop ornaments, emphasizing lightweight and designer-toy aesthetics. For example, Ropet by Mengyou Intelligence adopts a “light companionship” concept. Covered in soft synthetic fur and equipped with a constant-temperature system, it can express emotions such as excitement, anger, or affection—essentially becoming a soulful electronic pet.

Companion robots are also appearing in family settings. With child-friendly designs, educational robots can support parent-child learning while serving as intelligent playmates. For pet-owning households, companion robots address the challenge of remote pet care by enabling automatic feeding and real-time monitoring. Some high-end models further integrate with smart home ecosystems, combining companionship, security, and appliance control into an all-in-one intelligent housekeeper.

In the silver-age market, companion robots represent technology addressing rigid needs. According to industry practitioners, beyond basic chatting, dialect recognition, and remote family connectivity, these robots incorporate “family doctor” functions. These include building health profiles, medication reminders, 24-hour contactless monitoring of respiration and heart rate, automatic fall alerts, and even voice-based prediction of early Alzheimer’s indicators—helping fill gaps in home-based eldercare services.

How Much Do They Cost?

A search across major platforms shows that most AI companion robots are priced between RMB 300 and 500. Data indicates that Fuzozo, launched by Luobo Intelligence in June 2025, has sold over 120,000 units, with average user interaction time nearing 50 minutes per session. Zheng Xiaodan, head of embodied intelligence for JD.com’s intelligent robotics business, noted that more than 100 robot brands now collaborate with JD.com. During last year’s “Double 11” shopping festival, the intelligent robot category recorded a fivefold year-on-year growth, highlighting rapid market expansion.

This growth is far from fleeting. According to the “2025–2031 China Companion Robot Industry Development Monitoring and Investment Strategy Report” released by Huajing Industry Research Institute, the global companion robot market reached approximately USD 28.19 billion in 2024. Compared with humanoid robots, companion robots are easier to commercialize and are expected to enter household scenarios sooner, offering vast market potential.

Wang Lili, Deputy Director of the Digital Intelligence Technology Research Office at CCID Consulting’s Electronic Information Research Institute, predicts: “The future companion robot market will follow a ‘light form first, heavy form later’ trajectory. In the short term, basic, desktop, and pet-type robots will continue to grow rapidly. The industry will shift from single hardware sales to integrated models combining hardware, content, and services. The overall market size is expected to reach the trillion-yuan level.”

What Challenges Lie Ahead?

Experts note that the core of companion robots lies in relationship building. “It’s not just about verbal interaction—it requires continuous guidance and deep emotional engagement, and these subtleties cannot be achieved by large models alone,” admitted an engineer involved in companion robot R&D. Challenges remain in interaction smoothness, motion precision, and battery life, all of which require further technological breakthroughs.

Additionally, as devices become deeply embedded in private spaces, ensuring data security, preventing excessive user dependence, and fostering genuinely warm connections are challenges the industry must confront.

“The next industry inflection point will not come from leaps in voice interaction, but from the maturation of edge intelligence,” said a robotics R&D leader. Decentralized, low-cost, high-performance local intelligence will be key to enabling personalization, privacy protection, and round-the-clock companionship.

Declaration: This article comes from Guangming Daily (Full Media).If copyright issues are involved, please contact us to delete.

Reporter: Cui Xingyi

Correspondent: Yang Jiaxuan