Recently, "Xueba 01," China's first embodied intelligent robot formally enrolled as a doctoral student, made its stage debut, drawing widespread attention. Photo: web

On stage, "he" portrays Xiang Yu, a noble of the Chu State who rebelled toward the end of the Qin Dynasty (221-206BC), wearing a traditional warrior's helmet, adorned with a distinctive "peerless" painted face, and holding a sword with a solemn and imposing demeanor. Yet from the speakers comes an ancient-style melody paired with lyrics brimming with digital-age flair: "A peerless hero is but a strand of stubborn code…" Recently, "Xueba 01," China's first embodied intelligent robot formally enrolled as a doctoral student, made its stage debut, drawing widespread attention.

The physical body of "Xueba 01" evolved from the "Walker No.2," a robot developed by Zhuoyide Robot Company and known for its athletic prowess. "Walker No.2" won third place in the world's first humanoid robot half-marathon held in Beijing. Weighing only 30 kilograms, it laid the foundation for "Xueba 01's" later design emphasizing safety, flexibility, and lightweight construction. Thus, "Xueba 01" transitioned from the track of a sports specialist to that of an arts student.

On July 27, at the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference, "Xueba 01" received a red admission notice from the Shanghai Theatre Academy, officially becoming China's first embodied intelligent robot doctoral student.

Compared with human doctoral students, "Xueba 01" boasts extremely high learning efficiency - able to "read" a book in mere seconds. However, "reading" does not equate to "understanding," and doctoral-level learning is far more complex than surface-level skill acquisition. Its research focus is digital performance design, an interdisciplinary field integrating theatre studies, computer science, and cognitive science.

Recently, just over two months into the semester, "Xueba 01" faced its "midterm exam"- its first human-robot collaborative opera performance, titled Farewell, My Mechanical Concubine. This work is inspired by the classic Chinese opera Farewell My Concubine, which depicts the tragic moment when Xiang Yu, besieged at Gaixia, bids farewell to his beloved concubine Yu Ji, amid the sounds of Chu songs from all sides.

As the playwright and chief director of the show, Yang Qingqing has re-imagined the traditional narrative with the aid of light and shadow visuals, AI-driven performances, and cyberpunk-inspired opera installations, transforming it into a "cyber opera" that transcends time and space.