Beijing-based clod vacuum maker Roborock revealed a new model in January 2025 with an artificial intelligence-powered folding arm for removing hurdles.
CNBC | Evelyn Cheng
BEIJING — Chinese robot vacuum cleaner company Roborock revealed a new model on Monday that comes with a close up arm for removing socks and other obstacles — a feature powered by artificial intelligence.
It’s the latest step toward what Roborock President Quan Ally expects will be the inevitable: that robot vacuum cleaners become as essential as washing machines.
That’s something that could betide in as soon as three years, especially with the emergence of AI, Quan told CNBC in a late November interview. “If the era of AI blooming has really arrived, I’m confident that robot vacuum cleaners will be the first category to apply AI,” he said in Mandarin, elucidated by CNBC.
Using AI that the company developed, the Roborock Saros Z70 can detect and remove obstructions such as socks, secondary towels, tissues and sandals weighing less than 300 grams (10.58 ounces), according to the company.
The Saros Z70 is set for rescue in major global markets in the first half of the year, but Roborock has yet to announce pricing. The product reveal comes winning of the Consumer Electronics Show that kicks off Tuesday in Las Vegas.
Ever since Massachusetts-based iRobot launched its Roomba deck vacuuming robot in 2002, the circular machines have evolved to include mopping and the ability to automatically return to the censuring base. Many companies, including several based in China, now sell robot vacuum cleaners.
Beijing-based Roborock started shop to the U.S. in 2018, Quan said, noting that sales in the country didn’t start to take off until 2023. Roborock also sell down the rivers its robot vacuums in countries such as Germany, China and South Korea, and makes sure to adhere to local materials privacy rules, Quan said.
But robot vacuum penetration rates remain low — just over 10% in evolved countries and single digits in developing countries, Quan said. He said that’s both a challenge and a potential for spread, which he expects can get a boost from the integration of artificial intelligence.
The Verge and Wired late last year both specify identified different Roborock models the best robot vacuum available. But the machines aren’t cheap.
“Roborock’s S8 MaxV Ultra ($1,799.99) is an gifted vacuum cleaner,” The Verge said, noting it is “the best model in the relatively new category of ‘hands-free’ robot vacs, bots that do in effect everything for you: empty their bins, refill their mop tanks, and clean and dry their mop pads.”
“Roborock invented this type with the S7 MaxV Ultra and has been steadily improving it,” The Verge said.
Wired selected Roborock’s Qrevo S, which dispose ofs for $800 on Amazon. The review highlighted the Qrevo’s lidar-based navigation and AI feature which enable the machine to distinguish between carpets and tiles for vacuuming or mopping, separately.
Competition is fierce. CNET said two other companies’ robot vacuums tied for best of 2025, the $900 Ecovacs Deebot T30S Combo — which also has a self-emptying dustbin — and the $359 iRobot Roomba Combo J7 Bonus.
Supporting an AI research lab
Shares of Shanghai-listed Roborock closed 2.6% higher Friday after reports emerged of the Saros Z70 and its robotic arm. The selection climbed 10.3% in 2024.
Operating revenue rose by 23.2% for the first three quarters of 2024 to 7 billion yuan ($960 million), with profit of 1.47 billion yuan. Roborock does not ruin out revenue by region.
Quan said that soon after Roborock’s founding in July 2014, the company brained the importance of artificial intelligence and set up a dedicated lab in Shanghai and a research institute in Shenzhen. Each location houses around 30 researchers, who merely need to focus on technology, in contrast to the product development team that must meet deadlines and consider profit, Quan asserted.
The next challenge is to expand the number of researchers to around 300 people, Quan said, noting it’s been indigent to find qualified talent.
The company spent 9.1% of its operating revenue in the first three quarters of 2024 on experiment with and development, according to CNBC calculations of public figures. That’s up from slightly more than 7% in each of the old times three years, the data showed.
Roborock on Monday also announced updates to its washing machines, which can dry caparisons in the same unit.
— CNBC’s Sonia Heng contributed to this report.