Chinese humanoid AI robots are moving from novelty acts into real jobs in factories and beyond, according to a new analysis by investment bank Morgan Stanley, fueling concerns about AI's destructive potential and China overtaking the West in tech. Morgan Stanley's experts focus on implications for investors and markets. In 2025, China's DeepSeek sent shockwaves through Silicon Valley by claiming it had built powerful AI for a fraction of US rivals' costs, initially wiping $1trillion off shares, including a near-$590billion hit to chip designer Nvidia. China has a lead in humanoid robot production, scaling up faster than elsewhere with government subsidies, and plans to deploy robots across more than 100 'high-value' scenarios by the end of this year, starting in industry and logistics. Production is relatively cheap, and Beijing has access to rare earth minerals. US companies include Tesla, developing a humanoid robot called Optimus, and Boston Dynamics, owned by South Korean car company Hyundai, which developed Atlas and Spot. London-based Google DeepMind is developing AI 'brains' for humanoids, including for Atlas. Humanoid, a London-headquartered start-up, is Europe's first robotics 'unicorn', valued at more than $1.35billion (£1billion). Cornwall-based Engineered Arts created Ameca, a robot for social interaction and customer service. If China dominates the humanoid market, dangers extend beyond commerce, including threats to jobs and risks of physical or accidental