The humanoid so real they had to cut it open

The internet was convinced China's newest humanoid was human, but did it fool our reporter when they got to see it up close

This is iron, created by Xping, the Chinese Tesla competitor known for electric vehicles, flying cars, and robots that are so real they need to be sliced open to prove they aren't human

And when iron was unveiled, the internet kind of lost its mind

Some people were convinced this was just someone in a suit. So, naturally, X-Ping's CEO grabbed a knife and cut it open

Mashable reporter Amanda Yeo actually got to see Iron up close at a private demo

And, yeah, it gets even weirder. So today, we're breaking down how a robot crossed the Uncanny Valley

why X-Ping designed it to look this human, and what this means for the future of humanoid robots

X-Ping is best known as a Chinese electric vehicle company, but lately they've been making some bold

moves in humanoid robotics. As a part of their robotics division, they're working on a next-gen

platform called Iron, a tall, soft-skinned humanoid robot designed to work in human environments

with human proportions and a world built for humans X says the goal isn just to make a robot that moves like us but one that feels familiar enough that people will actually feel comfortable with it around them One aspect of the robot that seemed to stir up some conversation online was Iron appearance

And more specifically, its wide hips, slim waist, and very noticeable breasts

Which raised a pretty obvious question. Why would a robotics company design a robot like this

X-Ping's answer? Because humans are humans. The head of the robotics center says they're not making robots, they're making humans

Their logic is that humanoid robots feel warmer, more intimate, and more emotionally acceptable when they resemble us

And since different people have different body types, X-Ping wants iron to eventually come in different shapes, sizes, and yes, different sexes

I guess you could think of it like buying a car. X-Ping says one day you'll pick your robot's height, build, hair length, maybe even clothing

including full-coverage soft skin so the robot feels warmer and more lifelike

In other words, this curvy design wasn't an accident. It's a test

X-Ping is trying to see how humans react to different body types

before robots enter real-world jobs. When Mashable reporter Amanda Yeo saw Iron up close one of the first things she noticed was the skin And yes she actually got to touch it She described it as feeling like a soft stretchy knitted fabric closer to premium loungewear than anything robotic

Amanda even admitted she was a little jealous of Iron's outfit. If X-Ping ever releases a clothing line, she's first in line

But underneath that cozy exterior is a pretty wild structure. X-Ping told us Iron is built from the inside out like a human

Bones and muscles that give it shape, and the knitted skin layered with embedded sensors

And here's the part that surprised us. X-Ping says the demo Amanda attended was fully autonomous

The robot's movement patterns, the walking, the turning, even the tour guide animations were generated in real time by the model

In person, Amanda said Iron doesn't feel like someone in a suit. It feels mechanical, but in a strangely human way

The proportions, the textures, the moment-to-moment shifts in posture, even when it's standing still, it felt like it was waiting for something

Part of why Iron exploded online is pretty simple. I mean, it looks like it's stepped right out of a sci-fi movie

The slow prowling walk the body it all feels very under or ex machina Or the white mesh total Westworld Humanoid robots have always tapped into that sci part of our brain and it seems X leaned pretty hard into that

And that's because humans are hardwired to react to anything that looks almost but not quite human

also known as the uncanny valley. We just cannot look away. But here's the thing

Humanoid robots don't actually make a ton of engineering sense. Bipedal bodies tend to be unstable, inefficient, and more mechanically complicated

But humans keep building them anyway. And X-Ping's philosophy seems to explain why

They're designing robots not just for function, but for emotional compatibility. I guess the idea is if people trust humanoids, they'll adopt them faster

Although, I don't know if I agree. And if they adopt them faster, companies can scale production and bring the cost down

So what X-Ping is really testing is how ready we are for humanoid machines that don't just walk like us, but look like us

And whether that idea excites you or creeps you out, Iron is a preview of a future where the line between human and robot design gets thinner and thinner

But hey, what do you think about humanoid robots? Do they fascinate you? Creep you out? Both

Let us know in the comments. And if you liked this video, be sure to give it a like and subscribe for more stories on what the future holds