China’s industrial giants are rapidly scaling up the use of AI-powered robots to operate vital infrastructure, with the country’s main grid operator unveiling a blockbuster plan to deploy thousands of bots to handle a range of roles – from inspecting remote substations to performing maintenance on ultra-high-voltage power lines.

The State Grid Corporation of China has earmarked 6.8 billion yuan (US$1 billion) for the procurement of embodied intelligence – or artificial intelligence-enabled robots – in 2026 alone, Chinese media outlet Jiemian reported on Friday.

The firm intends to purchase around 8,500 robots this year, according to an internal company development plan seen by Jiemian.

When similar plans by other Chinese utility firms including China Southern Power Grid are taken into account, industry insiders expect total investment on embodied intelligence in the sector to surpass 10 billion yuan in 2026, according to the report.

State Grid runs the power infrastructure across 26 of the Chinese mainland’s 31 provincial-level regions, with China Southern Power Grid covering five southern regions including Guangdong province.

The procurement plans by State Grid centre on the purchase of 5,000 robot dogs, which will be used to inspect substations and transmission lines, as well as other facilities located in mountainous terrain.

The firm will also deploy an army of humanoid and dual-arm robots to perform more high-stakes tasks, including maintaining the country’s rapidly expanding ultra-high-voltage power grid.