While everyone is concerned about AI, technology in other areas is making major progress toward something previously unknown.

According to Chinese experts, the first humanoid robot capable of carrying and birthing a live baby may be closer than we realize.

Given that the first IVF (in vitro fertilization) baby was born less than 50 years ago, it’s safe to conclude that technology’s exponential progress is taking place right in front of our eyes.

Experts believe the technology will be able to effectively replicate a pregnancy from conception to delivery.

While still in the formative phases, it would include an artificial womb and nutrition supplied to the fetus via a tube.

However, health experts working on the research predict that the kid will be delivered within nine months.

How much will the pregnant Chinese robot cost?

According to Dr. Zhang Qifeng, creator of Kaiwa Technology in Guangzhou, China, the technology is in a ‘mature stage.’

His organization is in charge of spearheading the investigation into the potential, as he explained: “Now it needs to be implanted in the robot’s abdomen so that a real person and the robot can interact to achieve pregnancy, allowing the fetus to grow inside.”

If all goes as planned, the Nanyang Technological University graduate will sell a robot prototype for around £10,000 (100,000 yuan) in 2026.

How will China’s pregnant robot operate?

According to local media reports, the robot is supposed to simulate the entire pregnancy process; however, it is unclear how the egg and sperm are fertilized at this time.

The infant is believed to reside within the robot’s body during the gestation period, but many people are still confused about how the fetus will be put in the artificial womb.

Dr. Zhang added that artificial amniotic fluid would be used to establish a womb-like environment for the newborns.

He confessed that the technology isn’t novel, since scientists have previously kept preterm lambs alive in a ‘biobag’ for several weeks.

Despite the technical improvement, ethical and legal disputes about the technique have already begun.

What are the critics saying about China’s pregnant robot?

The doctor claims he has already contacted Guangdong Province officials to write laws and policy, a move that would forever alter medical research.

Others have questioned the humanoid’s potential to successfully imitate human gestation.

They argue that maternal hormone secretions, among other biological processes, cannot be replicated.

According to an essay authored by researchers from The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, such technology might ‘pathologize’ pregnancy, despite others maintaining that women would no longer suffer the emotional and physical hurdles of bearing a child for nine months.