This picture taken on May 21, 2026 shows an X Square Robot cleaning a customer`s home in Beijing. China`s robots have wowed audiences with fluid dancing and set-piece martial arts displays onstage, but their application and performance in real-life settings remains limited. For companies like X Square, the logic of launching an imperfect service lies in data collection for so-called embodied artificial intelligence. (Photo by WANG Zhao / AFP) / To go with AFP story China-tech-labour-lifestyle-AI, FOCUS by Emily WANG