Would you be willing to purchase an “AI companion” for 990000 yuan?
On June 3rd, the “first stock of humanoid robots” Ubiquitous gave a dose of “AI medicine” to single dogs, but came with a staggering expensive bill.
Ubiquitous has launched the full-size ultra biomimetic humanoid robot U1 series, with the top of the line version priced at up to 990000 yuan for men and 880000 yuan for women.
On one hand, there are “AI companions” claiming to be empathetic, memorable, and provide emotional value, while on the other hand, there are exorbitant prices for dowries. Is this commercial adventure under the banner of “emotional companionship” a precise card slot lonely economy, or a capital story detached from reality?
990000 yuan is an exorbitant price for a dowry, but the best choice cannot grasp the mass market
From “industrial robots” to “emotional matchmaking”, Ubiquitous has placed a new bet.
The U1 series released this time has a price range comparable to the “entry-level to flagship” models in consumer electronics:
Half body version U1 Lite, priced at 119800 yuan;
The high-end full body version U1 Pro is priced at 169800 yuan;
The high dynamic full body version U1 Ultra is priced at 990000 yuan for men and 880000 yuan for women.
Founder Zhou Jian revealed that as of the press conference, Ubiquitous has released the latest U1 humanoid robot, and pre-sales through all channels have reached 13361 units.
The U1 series has also started pre-sales on JD.com. The U1 Pro product is divided into two styles for men and women: the men’s model is 183cm tall and weighs 42kg, and the women’s model is 168cm tall and weighs 35.2kg. It has a golden ratio of handsome men and beautiful women, and its appearance is exquisite to the hair.
According to “Financial Stories”, the pre order quantity of U1 Pro has reached 5467 pieces, with a deposit of 3000 yuan.
However, it’s hard to say how many pre-sales can be converted into final sales. The page clearly states that users can refund their deposit at any time before the pre-sale ends on July 15th.
For Uber, this is a clear strategic shift. Founder Zhou Jian frankly stated that he does not want to simply be a sex robot, but rather to create companion products with complex movements, natural interactions, and rich facial expressions. “Perhaps in the future, people will choose to date it,” and “If my next generation, my children, choose to be with robots, I completely understand
Behind the optimistic statement, there is an indescribable and easy situation for Youbixuan.
As one of the earliest companies in China to lay out humanoid robots, Ubiquitous has lost nearly 5 billion yuan in the past five years and has yet to make a profit. The company urgently needs to find new growth opportunities.
And the full-size biomimetic companion robot is precisely the differentiated track it has chosen.
What supports the highest million dollar selling price is a complete set of “bionic hardware+emotional AI” technology packaging.
On the hardware level, the U1 series is equipped with 88 high-precision degrees of freedom joints throughout the body, which can cover 90% of human basic movements; Our self-developed biomimetic expression driven system attempts to alleviate the stiffness of traditional robots.
In terms of AI capabilities, the product is equipped with a large emotional model designed specifically for long-term companionship, which can recognize more than 20 fine-grained emotions with an accuracy rate of over 90%.
In addition, with features such as a cross temporal memory bank and active care without wake-up words, the official attempt is to create a perfect “AI companion” that can “look at eye color” and iterate with user growth.
There are many application scenarios, covering consumer scenarios such as daily companionship, emotional support, life aesthetics, social assistance, as well as business scenarios such as welcome reception, elderly care companionship, psychological therapy, cultural and tourism exhibitions, scientific research and teaching, and high-end home services.
According to the standards of Zhou Jian, a qualified companion robot should have pleasing appearance, compatible personality, rich knowledge reserves, long-term and short-term memory abilities, and ultimately provide users with stable emotional value.
However, buying a “fake person” for 990000 yuan cannot be calculated, and in the domestic marriage scene, it far exceeds the marriage threshold in most regions.
According to a report by the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the average increase in dowry amounts nationwide over the past decade has exceeded 50%.
Even in Jiangxi, where the level of dowries is relatively high, the average amount is only 200000 to 300000 yuan, with some areas peaking at around 500000 yuan.
In other words, the budget for buying a top of the line U1 Ultra Men’s Edition is enough to pay for two high dowries and leave behind a living expense.
In reality, people pay the cost of marriage and love in exchange for genuine emotional connections and lasting family building.
A 990000 AI companion, even with high biomimicry, is essentially an electronic product: it has fixed hardware losses and technology iteration cycles, and cannot generate true empathy and love.
Spending nearly a million to purchase a ‘companion symbol’ is clearly not a rational choice.
Even more subtle is the labeling on the product introduction page that reads’ adults only ‘- if it focuses on adult features, 990000 yuan far exceeds the pricing logic of similar products; If we focus solely on emotional companionship, it would be difficult to sustain such a high premium.
The ambiguity of positioning makes high prices even more awkward.
Companion robot: Billion dollar trend, four major challenges
Uber is very optimistic about the prospects of companion robots.
The human-machine companionship economy is the first essential scenario in human history with unlimited emotional value, borderless companionship, and full lifecycle coverage. It is expected that the Chinese super bionic robot market will explode from billions to trillions from 2026 to 2036
In fact, not only Uber, but also tech giants and startups are trying to upgrade robots from “tools” to “partners”.
Last April, Samsung teamed up with Google to release the home AI companion robot, Ballie. In April of this year, Samsung’s AI intelligent companion robot Project Luna made its debut in Milan.
However, the positioning of the two series of products mentioned above is actually more like a “butler” rather than a “companion”, and the pricing is very affordable – the expected price is only around $2000, but due to the immaturity of the products, they have not yet been launched.
Apple also has actions.
It is reported that a desktop AI companion robot with the internal code name “Pixar Desk Lamp” will be launched in 2027. Equipped with a new generation of Siri, it can chat naturally like a human, proactively provide life advice, and help you plan your itinerary. It also supports FaceTime calls, and the camera can automatically track people. The goal is clear: to be the ‘digital family’ of users.
From lightweight home assistants to full-size humanoid models, the race for “AI companions” is becoming increasingly crowded.
Under the support of the lonely economy, there is indeed a real demand for companion robots.
According to the 2021 Consumption Report of Qingshan Capital, the number of people living alone in China has reached 92 million, and the proportion of single person households in the total number of households has increased from 6% to 25% in just 25 years.
According to the Shell Research Institute, by 2030, the number of people living alone in China will reach 150-200 million, with the number of young people aged 20-39 living alone increasing to 40-70 million.
At the same time, the domestic single adult population exceeds 200 million, and the elderly population aged 60 and above reaches 320 million, forming a potential user pool for AI emotional companionship.
Huafu Securities predicts that the global sex robot market will exceed $30 billion by 2025.
The vast population of solitary and single individuals, coupled with the continuously expanding gap in emotional needs, has made “AI companions” an imaginative business.
However, although the prospects are promising, the challenges are not small. Four difficulties lie ahead, and commercialization is far from mature.
The first is the experience level – sophisticated algorithms are difficult to replace human warmth.
The current AI companion is essentially data-driven programmatic feedback. Even if one can accurately identify emotions and say heartwarming words, true empathy and love cannot be generated; No matter how smooth the bionic movements are, they cannot achieve the delicacy and agility of real people.
For users who pursue deep emotional value, there is an insurmountable experience gap between “being like a real person” and “being a real person”.
The second is cost-effectiveness – pricing too high is detached from mass consumption.
The core audience of companion robots is ordinary young people living alone and families, but their prices range from tens of thousands to nearly a million, which directly blocks the vast majority of people from entering.
Even the entry-level model of Ubiquitous, priced at 119800 yuan, far exceeds the price range of mainstream consumer electronics, and its million yuan price tag is comparable to a first home in a second tier city.
Without affordable prices, it is destined to be difficult to become a mass business.
The third is the acceptance level – social stereotypes are difficult to reverse.
Despite the official emphasis on the positioning of “emotional companionship”, the full-size biomimetic humanoid form is difficult for the public to break free from the stereotype of “high-end silicone dolls”.
For most people, placing a humanoid companion robot at home is still a private and difficult to discuss option. The reversal of public perception takes time.
The fourth is ethical concerns. Will the popularization of AI companions further dissolve intimate relationships in the real world and further impact fertility rates?
According to data from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of marriage registrations in China in 2024 was only 6.11 million, a year-on-year decrease of 20.5%.
According to a survey by Zhenai.com, nearly 80% of single individuals voluntarily remain single without external pressure and lack the motivation to enter into marriage.
Will young people become more reliant on virtual companionship and completely give up emotional management in reality when AI partners who are obedient, considerate, and never argue become readily available options?
The potential impact on marriage and childbearing intentions, as well as social connections, is a public question that the entire industry must face.
In summary, for Ubiquitous, launching the top of the line AI companion priced at 990000 yuan is like a breakthrough attempt: using high topic awareness to attract capital attention, using high pricing to explore the high-end market, and using differentiated tracks to avoid price wars for industrial robots.
However, whether it is technology, price, or social awareness, they are still far from mature.
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