Russia Enters the Humanoid Race
Russia’s technology sector is moving into one of the most competitive frontiers of modern engineering – humanoid robotics. A newly formed alliance of companies and universities is betting that autonomy, offline artificial intelligence, and deep integration between research and manufacturing can give the country a distinct position in a field currently dominated by the United States and China.
Integrating Business, Science, and Manufacturing
Russia has established the New Technology Coalition (NTC), an association that brings together leading domestic robotics companies – Promobot, Double U Expo, Idol, and the VDNH Robot Corporation – along with four major technical universities.
The coalition’s mandate is ambitious. It aims to build a fully Russian technological foundation for humanoid robotics, including an autonomous AI architecture and domestic production of key components required to design and manufacture anthropomorphic robots inside the country.
Manufacturing will rely on existing industrial capacity, including facilities at the Shared Use Center of the Autonomous Nonprofit Organization “Federal Center for Unmanned Autonomous Systems.” Rather than creating infrastructure from scratch, the coalition is embedding new robotics production into operating industrial and research sites.
Responsibilities inside the coalition are clearly divided. Promobot oversees the industrial component, Double U Expo focuses on human–machine interaction, Idol is responsible for stabilization and locomotion, and the Robot Corporation manages deployment and feedback from industrial customers.
Coalition members have already invested at least 400 million rubles (about $4–5 million). By 2026, they plan to raise up to 4 billion rubles (roughly $45–50 million) from private investors and international funds. The coalition remains open to expansion. Expected collaborators include Sber’s Robotics Center, Yandex Robotics, NPO Android Technology, as well as Skoltech and the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.
Autonomous Robots of a New Generation
At the core of the New Technology Coalition’s humanoid robotics platform is what its developers describe as Russia’s first fully autonomous robot with embodied AI. The system is designed to walk, manipulate objects, and communicate naturally with humans. A defining feature is empathic behavior supported by facial expressions and nonverbal cues, enabling more intuitive human interaction. Unlike many Western and Asian humanoid systems, the robot operates entirely offline. All data processing, including speech recognition and computer vision, is performed onboard, without reliance on cloud infrastructure. Training is conducted on proprietary datasets collected in real-world environments and in simulation. This approach allows the system to learn through direct interaction with its surroundings, reinforcing adaptive behavior while maintaining data security and operational independence.
Technological development follows three parallel tracks. The first is localization of production for actuators, controllers, sensors, and power systems. The second is advancing embodied AI – self-learning through interaction with the physical environment. The third is integration with Russian AI platforms, ensuring compatibility with the country’s broader digital ecosystem.
Strategy in an Era of Technological Fragmentation
For Russia, the platform is positioned as a step toward narrowing the technological gap with the United States and China, where large-scale humanoid programs are already underway, including Tesla Optimus and China’s “Made in China 2025” initiative.
For participating companies, the project opens access to a global market that experts estimate could reach $5 trillion by 2050. The coalition’s value proposition centers on autonomous, offline-capable robots designed for extreme and sensitive environments, from Arctic conditions to nuclear facilities.
Initial deployment is expected in sectors where Russia already has strong infrastructure and expertise, including space exploration, emergency response systems, energy, and heavy industry.
Export potential extends beyond hardware. Developers anticipate selling complete ecosystems, including software platforms, simulators, datasets, and educational programs. This is particularly relevant for countries that prioritize security, autonomy, and independence from cloud-based AI services.
A Path Toward Leadership
Russia has already delivered several landmark projects in anthropomorphic robotics. In 2019, the humanoid robot FEDOR became the first Russian android to operate in space, combining autonomous movement with telepresence control for precision manipulation in extreme conditions.
Since 2020, Promobot has exported service robots to more than 60 countries. Another project, Teledroid by NPO Android Technology, is currently in advanced development or preparation for testing in space research and experimentation. Academic research is also progressing. Laboratories at the Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology and Skoltech report advances in autonomous control systems and cognitive AI models.
The creation and rollout of a national humanoid robotics platform is framed as a strategic move toward building a resilient domestic robotics ecosystem. In the long term, its architects argue, this foundation could help secure Russia a competitive position in the global technology market.
