CITIC Securities: Significant Improvement in Robot Half Marathon Finish Times, Recommend Focus on Related Domestic Chains

A research report from CITIC Securities states that in the area of humanoid robots, the robots’ performance in the robot half-marathon—finishing the full event—has improved significantly, and it recommends paying attention to related domestic supply chains. The robot half-marathon is set to kick off in 2026, and overall athletic performance and completion results are expected to improve significantly; meanwhile, this year’s event saw nearly 40% participation from autonomous navigation teams, and more than 100 robots completed localization, mapping, path planning, and dynamic obstacle avoidance entirely using their own sensors. Finishing the autonomous navigation course demonstrates that robots have the ability to move freely in open, complex, real-world environments, with the embodied intelligence “perception-decision-control” closed loop successfully running through, which will help them adapt to more application scenarios in the future and accelerate deployment. Currently, OptimusV3 is being continuously preheated, and subsequent product releases and progress on mass production are worth closely watching. (People’s Financial News)