Chinese robotics startup DaxAI debuted a ride-on quadrupedal robot called the Qiji X1 All-Terrain Intelligent Mount at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, offering visitors a chance to ride the 660-pound payload machine across showroom floors as manufacturers expand commercial off-road robotics.
Robotics engineers spent years teaching mechanical quadrupeds to navigate rubble and dodge obstacles on autonomous paws. Now, developers in China are adding saddles.
During the five-day 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, which started on Wednesday, visitors lined up to straddle an unusual hybrid of a motorcycle and an industrial robot dog. The exhibition floor featured an array of advanced machinery, highlighted by the stock market debut of the world’s biggest humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics in Shanghai on the very same day. The Chinese firm’s machines are competing in the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, which started on Saturday in the capital. The event involves more than 2,000 robots from 16 countries. Yet it was the ride-on quadrupeds that drew crowds and sparked immediate online commentary.
Inside the Qiji X1 All-Terrain Intelligent Mount
Built by startup DaxAI, the Qiji X1 All-Terrain Intelligent Mount is designed to be sat upon as if riding a pony. The quadrupedal machine has four legs which can move independently and comes with two steering handles, which resemble those found on a motorbike, and a protective shield as the horse’s head. Video footage shared online shows people – including a young child – mounting the unusual contraption before steering it forwards, left and right.
According to specifications published by state-run media, the mechanical mount carries heavy loads of up to 660lb (300kg), can move at up to 6 mph according to initial reports, while other specs cite a top speed of up to 25mph (40kmph) and a 62-mile (100km) range. Showroom footage shows the machine navigating carpeted floors while carrying adult riders, though its movements are still quite jerky, and visitors could actually ride it.
Built for premium off-road leisure, it transforms AI from lines of code on a screen into a truly rideable, real-world device,
China Daily, state-run newspaper
Beyond leisure riding, developers envision the quadruped tackling utilitarian tasks. The manufacturer highlights the machine’s ability for transporting heavy loads across uneven terrain and assisting during emergency rescue operations, navigating complex terrain autonomously from steep slopes and gravel to mud.
It is unclear when DaxAI’s four-legged robot will go on sale, or how much it will cost, as the company doesn’t appear to have a Western internet-facing website. We also don’t know how capable it really is on uneven terrain rather than a perfectly flat, carpeted showroom floor.
Competing Designs From DEEP Robotics and Kawasaki
DaxAI is not alone in pursuing the mechanical equine concept. Another exhibit at the conference was Hangzhou-based DEEP Robotics’ limited-edition robot horse, which was unveiled to mark the Year of the Horse. Weighing about 66lbs (33kg) and standing about half a metre tall, the robotic quadruped can carry up to 110lbs (50kg) – but looks much more horse-like than DaxAI’s version.
International legacy manufacturers are also exploring the space. Last year, motorcycle company Kawasaki Heavy Industries unveiled a hydrogen-powered, ride-on robo-horse. The bizarre device was unveiled at the Osaka Kansai Expo as part of Kawasaki’s Impulse to Move
project. Dubbed the CORLEO, this two-seater quadruped is capable of galloping over almost any terrain. The company calls it a revolutionary off-road personal mobility vehicle
which swaps out the familiar wheels for four robotic legs. To steer, all you need to do is move your body and the machine’s AI vision will pick out the best route to take, while constantly monitoring its rider’s movements to achieve a reassuring sense of unity
so you don’t fly off as you leap about like a robot cowboy. Kawasaki says these hooves can adapt to various terrains, including grasslands, rocky areas, and rubble fields. However, would-be riders might have a while to wait as Kawasaki says this has been created as a concept for 2050, and we have yet to see it in action beyond an almost entirely CGI promotional video, whereas DaxAI’s Qiji X1 All-Terrain Intelligent Mount seems pretty close to production.
Broader Industry Momentum in Beijing
The ride-on displays unfolded alongside the 2026 World Robot Conference, an expansive gathering featuring more than 2,000 robots from 16 countries. Simultaneously, machines developed by firms like Unitree Robotics participated in the capital’s World Humanoid Robot Games.
Earlier this week, Chinese scientists at Unitree—a Hangzhou-based Chinese robotics company best known for developing high-performance robot dogs and humanoid robots—developed a robot that can outrun Usain Bolt. An incredible video shows the prototype, nicknamed “Superman,” reaching speeds of 12.66m per second (28.3mph) as it races along a track, compared to sprinting champion Usain Bolt reaching a speed of 12.42m per second (27.78mph) when he set the world record at the World Athletics Championship in 2009.
Back on social media, the debut of ride-on robot horses prompted both amusement and caution among online observers. Netizens quipped about industrial progress rendering living animals redundant for a second time following the invention of the automobile, with one Reddit user joking: This is twice the horse has been made obsolete by technology,
another quipped: We had the horseless carriage, now we have the horseless horse,
someone else said: This is like reinventing the horse,
and another joked: I've seen enough of these robot videos that I'd be wearing a helmet just in case.
However, one person warned: How long until one of these chunky boy robots goes rogue in an events centre and harms/kills the attendees?
