A Chinese tech firm, Kaiwa Technology, is reportedly close to unveiling a humanoid robot equipped with an artificial womb designed to carry and deliver human babies. The company plans to debut a prototype of this “gestation robot” by 2026, with an expected price tag under $14,000. The announcement has sparked a mix of skepticism, ethical concerns, and surprising support.
Zhang Qifeng, founder of Kaiwa Technology and a PhD graduate from Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, claims the robot will be able to carry a fetus for 10 months before giving birth. The child would develop inside an artificial womb filled with synthetic amniotic fluid and receive nutrients through a connected hose.
“Some people don’t want to get married but still want a ‘wife;’ some don’t want to be pregnant but still want a child. So one function of our ‘robot wife’ is that it can carry a pregnancy,” Zhang explained.
This technology raises profound ethical questions.
According to Interesting Engineering, the life-sized humanoid surrogate was showcased at the 2025 World Robot Conference in Beijing earlier this month. There, Zhang claimed the technology has reached a “mature stage” and now simply “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.”
Despite these claims, Zhang hasn’t specifically explained how the robot would support fertilization and implantation in the artificial womb – critical processes for human development.
“We want to integrate a gestation chamber into a humanoid robot and build an artificial womb so it can carry a full-term pregnancy ‘in the normal way,’” Zhang told tech media outlet Kuai Ke Zhi.
Medical experts remain unconvinced. Yi Fuxian, an obstetrician at the University of Wisconsin–Madison, told Newsweek that the robot is “likely just a gimmick.” He emphasized that “pregnancy is an extremely complex process, with each step being extremely delicate and critical,” and warned of “many health and ethical risks” – including potential issues that might “emerge at different ages, not to mention mental health issues.”
Public Response Mixed
The announcement generated nearly 4,000 comments on Weibo (China’s Twitter-like platform), according to Chosun Biz. While many expressed ethical concerns, the majority of responses were surprisingly positive.
Critics voiced serious objections, with comments like “It is cruel for a fetus to be born without connection to a mother” and “It completely violates human ethics.” Yet supportive comments included “It’s good that women don’t have to suffer” and “Women have finally been liberated.”
What makes this development particularly interesting is that surrogacy is currently illegal in China, yet this robotic alternative might potentially circumvent those laws. The legal and regulatory framework for such technology remains unclear.
Newsweek reports reaching out to the Chinese foreign ministry for comment but received no response before publication.
While the concept of artificial wombs has been discussed in scientific circles for years, the integration with humanoid robots represents a novel – and controversial – approach to reproductive technology that raises fundamental questions about the nature of human reproduction and parenting.