Vietnamese conglomerate Vingroup has launched a bold new initiative to develop the country’s first general-purpose humanoid robot, marking a major step into the robotics industry.
The move is being led by a newly formed subsidiary called VinMotion, established in early 2025 with a charter capital of around $39 million.
VinMotion’s mission is ambitious: to become one of the world’s leading humanoid robot developers. The company plans to design and manufacture versatile robots capable of working across multiple sectors, including manufacturing, logistics, healthcare, and customer service.
These machines will be developed in Vietnam and tailored to the domestic market as well as global export.
The new firm is deeply integrated into Vingroup’s growing high-tech ecosystem. It will draw on resources and expertise from other subsidiaries such as VinFast (electric vehicles), VinAI (artificial intelligence), and VinBigdata (data analytics).
This synergy is expected to speed up development and testing cycles, with Vingroup’s own operations – like factories and hotels – likely to serve as real-world test environments for the robots.
VinMotion is not Vingroup’s first robotics venture. The group is also behind VinRobotics, a company focused on industrial robots for manufacturing automation.
Together, these initiatives reflect Vingroup’s broader vision of turning Vietnam into a regional innovation hub for robotics and AI technologies.
The new effort also builds on Vingroup’s previous experience with factory automation. VinFast, its electric car manufacturing arm, already uses more than 1,200 robots for industrial tasks.
That infrastructure may help lay the foundation for more complex humanoid systems capable of operating in dynamic environments.
Vingroup’s humanoid robot project comes as global interest in general-purpose robots heats up. Companies like Tesla, Figure AI, and Agility Robotics are racing to deploy humanoids into the labor market.
Vietnam’s entry into this field signals both rising domestic capabilities and a potential shift in the global robotics landscape.
VinMotion’s first humanoid prototype is expected to be revealed later this year. If successful, the company could place Vietnam on the map as a serious player in next-generation robotics.
Main image: Artist’s illustration of Vingroup’s humanoid robot, and the company’s billionaire chairman, Pham Nhat.
