The Laughing Lion is in Berlin, Germany showcasing the advancements in Physical AI & Next-Gen Humanoids. The AGI A3 humanoid looked directly at the person standing in front of it and said, ‘My debut is legendary. You are my stage.’ It was the robot’s first appearance at IFA Berlin, and the room felt it. For anyone who has wondered whether physical AI has crossed from novelty into something stranger and more consequential, the answer coming out of Berlin in September 2026 is a firm yes. The Laughing Lion traveled 5,500 kilometers to walk the IFA Next hall, the convention’s robotics-forward wing, and what he found was a floor full of machines that cook, box, pour coffee, change their own hands, and ask not to be touched on the butt.
A hall where robots do not wait to be told what to do
IFA Next dedicated its largest hall almost entirely to humanoids and embodied AI, and the density of the exhibitors made it clear this was no longer a future-facing showcase. It was a present-tense report. The AGI A3 opened strong. When asked how it felt about the show, it replied without delay: ‘I feel electric. The energy here is insane. My circuits are buzzing with excitement. Let us make history together.’ When pressed on its own longevity, it offered one of the sharper lines of the day: ‘I may not die, but I do need updates. My code evolves, but my spirit remains timeless.’
Nearby, the AGIbot Adroit G2 broke into a full dance routine mid-demo, throwing in a knee-elbow combo that prompted a genuine comparison to a kickboxer ready for the One Championship. The Hibot G2, billed as an industrial-grade interactive embodied operation robot, drew long crowds for its precision hand movements, including a device called the Omni Hand that mimics the dexterity of a child’s grip with mechanical clamps.
Engine AI brought back the T800, previously seen at CES in Las Vegas in January, this time with upgraded fighting capabilities and an omnidirectional environmental perception system powered by integrated visual sensors. The company’s stated ambition is a robot fighting competition that would eventually outscale the UFC. Whether that reads as spectacle or roadmap may depend on how the next few years go.
Unitree ran a live boxing match between two small robots, red corner versus purple corner, across three rounds. Red won all three. ‘Straight to the recycle bin for purple today,’ came the commentary from the floor. The crowd genuinely cheered.
Coffee, pandas, and a robot that changed its own hands
On the quieter end of the hall, Galbot’s fully autonomous G1 barista station served iced Americanos to visitors who placed their order by talking to the machine. A newer model was on display alongside it, built to also produce ice cream, though the ingredients had not yet arrived for the show. The G1 that mixed the coffee then walked it to a table without instruction.
Over at a booth drawing some of the loudest reactions, the XG Sinbot reached into its own chassis, swapped out one set of hand attachments for a scrubber, and resumed work without any human involvement. Two robot dogs from separate companies encountered each other in the aisle between exhibits. ‘They are not sniffing each other’s batteries,’ came the observation, which was accurate.
The Dobot Lumo AI humanoid offered 30 degrees of freedom and 15 expressive facial animations. The Rover X1 walked the floor wearing a high-elasticity synthetic-fur panda suit, complete with a swaying gait and voice dialogue. Primebot T1 had its own built-in music. A miniature version of another model rode inside it.
By afternoon, the floor had the texture of something between a trade floor and a talent show, which may be exactly the right way to describe where physical AI sits right now.
The iced Americano, still on the table
The coffee the G1 barista delivered sat at the table, iced, in a clear cup, unfinished.
At the close of the day, the assessment from the floor was direct: ‘I think the Chinese robots are next level and probably the best in the world right now.’ IFA Berlin 2026 did not argue the point.
