A humanoid robot factory opened in western Serbia on August 29 just weeks after Washington blocked imports of the technology to the United States, citing "unacceptable" national security risks.The factory in Sabac is a joint project between Serbia and the Chinese companies Minth Group and AGIBOT. It is the first mass-production facility for Chinese-designed humanoid robots in Europe.Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic says the Sabac factory aims to "assemble and later produce" more than 5,000 robots annually.It is unclear how much complexity is required at the assembly stage to complete the Chinese-designed robots in Serbia. RFE/RL's Balkan Service did not receive a response to questions sent to the Chinese companies, or Belgrade, about the nature of the assembly taking place in the Serbian facility.
A robot bartender during the opening of the Sabac factory
During the opening ceremony of the factory, Vucic fielded a penalty goal kicked by a humanoid robot and watched a man being carried by a quadraped version of the technology. The humanoid technology is forecast to replace human labor in some tedious or physically demanding tasks.The Serbian president raised eyebrows by announcing that his country's military would "present the first use of Chinese robots in the Serbian Armed Forces within 15 days" of the factory's opening. "You'll see them not only walking, but using weapons -- and very serious weapons," Vucic added.Antonia Hmaidi, a technology expert at the Berlin-based Mercator Institute for China Studies (MERICS), told RFE/RL's Balkan Service the Serbian facility may enable China to avoid potential future tariffs as humanoid technology becomes more widespread. "For the EU, this project risks exacerbating some of the dangers that already exist," she said.If EU tariffs or import bans on Chinese robots are enacted in future, the Serbian robot facility may be able to categorize its products as being made substantially in Serbia, which currently has preferential trade conditions with Brussels.William Shi, the CEO of AGIBOT Europe, said in February that Serbia was chosen for the robot factory "because of its stable business environment."
