UBTech Offers $18M for Chief AI Scientist Role
▼ Summary
– UBTech is offering an annual salary of $2.2 million to $18 million to recruit a global Chief Scientist of Embodied Intelligence.
– The company’s revenue from humanoid robots grew twenty-fold last year, reaching 820.6 million yuan and comprising 41% of total revenue.
– The recruitment package is considered unusual for China, where mega-compensation has historically been less common than in Silicon Valley.
– The role involves leading research in areas like robotics foundation models to accelerate deployment in manufacturing and other sectors.
– This hiring push occurs as China’s government supports the industry, with Chinese firms making nearly 90% of global humanoid robot shipments in 2025.
A Chinese robotics firm is making an unprecedented bid for global talent, offering a compensation package reaching $18 million for a pivotal leadership role. UBTech Robotics, based in Shenzhen, is recruiting a Chief Scientist of Embodied Intelligence with a salary range from $2.2 million to that staggering $18 million figure. This move signals a fierce and well-funded escalation in the race to develop advanced humanoid machines.
The position is described as setting the company’s complete technological direction, acting as the “helmsman” for its technical path. Observers have noted the unusual compensation package, even within China’s competitive tech landscape, where such mega-salaries have traditionally been less common than in Silicon Valley. The role will focus on advancing core technologies like vision-language-action models and robotics foundation models, aiming to speed up commercial deployment in manufacturing, services, and home environments.
UBTech’s aggressive hiring push comes on the heels of explosive growth. The company, which went public in Hong Kong, reported that its humanoid robot revenue grew twenty-fold last year. Revenue from humanoid products and services specifically surged to 820.6 million yuan in 2025, accounting for 41% of total revenue, a dramatic leap from less than 3% the prior year. Its flagship product, the Walker S2 humanoid robot, is already being tested in partnership with aerospace giant Airbus on manufacturing lines.
This recruitment drive is part of a broader industry trend fueled by strong government support for robotics in China. The sector has been highlighted in official government work reports for two consecutive years. Research indicates Chinese firms were responsible for nearly 90% of global humanoid robot shipments in 2025. UBTech itself sold over a thousand full-size units last year.
The lucrative job posting explicitly states the company does not consider nationality, age, or gender, asking only one question of potential candidates: “Can you define the future?” The compensation includes cash, benefits, and equity. UBTech is also seeking numerous other specialists, from algorithm to hardware engineers. This activity mirrors moves by competitors like Tesla, which recently sought dozens of experts for its Optimus project. The intense AI talent war is clearly expanding from software-based large language models into the physical world of embodied intelligence.
(Source: The Next Web)