China's Robot Stocks Crashed 55% — and Economists Saw It Coming

China is betting its economic future on artificial intelligence and humanoid robots — machines designed to look and move like people. The excitement has been enormous. Unitree Robotics, one of the country's fastest-growing robot makers, went public on Shanghai's tech-focused stock exchange and immediately became a market darling. But less than a month later, its shares had plunged 55 per cent from their peak. That is a bumpy ride for anyone who bought in near the top.

At the FutureChina Business Forum in Singapore, Daniel Zhang — the former chairman and CEO of Alibaba, now a venture investor — offered a blunt explanation. Unitree is "a great company with a visionary entrepreneur," he said, "but no company could withstand such high expectations." In plain English: investors priced in perfection, and reality rarely delivers perfection. When a stock is valued as if nothing can go wrong, even good news can disappoint.

The second worry is bigger and harder to fix. Economists warn that AI could widen the wealth gap, concentrating gains among people who own the technology and the companies behind it, while ordinary workers — drivers, factory staff, clerks — face pressure on wages or job security. That pattern isn't unique to China; it's showing up in the US and Europe too.

So what should you take from this? Two things. First, hype cycles in hot technologies can reverse fast, which is a reminder to be careful with money chasing any 'next big thing.' Second, the real question isn't whether AI advances — it will — but who benefits. That debate is now a mainstream economic issue, not a niche tech one.