China’s Patent Lead Signals Growing Edge in Humanoid Robotics

China leads the global race in humanoid robotics, filing about five times more related patents than the United States over the past five years, according to Morgan Stanley. The report also highlights China’s major cost advantages, noting that excluding China from supply chains could nearly triple production costs for robots like Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2.

China is emerging as a dominant force in the development of humanoid robots, outpacing the United States by a wide margin in patent activity, according to new research from Morgan Stanley. The investment bank says China has granted roughly five times more humanoid robot–related patents than the US over the past five years, underscoring its expanding influence in the sector.

The findings appear in Robot Almanac, Volume 3: Humanoids & Industrial Robots, released on Tuesday as part of Morgan Stanley’s six-part research series. The report shows that China registered 7,705 humanoid robotics patents during the period studied. By comparison, the United States accounted for 1,561 patents. Japan followed with 1,102, narrowly ahead of filings recorded through the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Based in Geneva, WIPO is a United Nations agency that supports global collaboration on intellectual property protection and standards. Its inclusion highlights the international scope of innovation activity, even as China maintains a clear numerical advantage.

The study was produced by Morgan Stanley’s Global Embodied AI Team and credited to 32 contributors. Beyond patent counts, the analysis draws attention to China’s significant cost benefits within the humanoid robotics supply chain.

According to Morgan Stanley’s estimates, building a supply chain for Tesla’s Optimus Gen 2 robot without Chinese involvement would be substantially more expensive. In this scenario, actuator costs—the components responsible for joint movement—would increase from around US$22,000 to US$58,000. Spending on chips and software would also rise sharply, from approximately US$3,000 to US$7,000.

Overall, the total bill of materials for Optimus Gen 2 could jump from about US$46,000 to US$131,000. The report notes that similar cost increases would likely affect other critical components, including hands, feet, vision systems, and batteries, reinforcing China’s central role in keeping humanoid robot development economically viable.