2026-10-25 16:06

Introduction: Capital FOMO is surging, but talent development lags behind. The competition for talent is intensifying. Word count: 2,934 | Handcrafted volume | 98% AI-generated content | 2% "Lately, we’ve been obsessed with recruiting talent—interns are now being offered up to 100,000 RMB per month."

The competition for talent is intensifying.

Word count: 2,934

Handcrafted volume | 98% AI-generated content | 2%

"Lately, we've been busy poaching talent—interns are now being offered up to 100,000 RMB per month."

Recently, a headhunter friend shared this sentiment. Two years ago, no one would have believed it; today, few dare to doubt it.

This year, embodied intelligence has emerged as the hottest sector. Fundraising events and funding volumes have firmly established it as the ultimate capital magnet. Yet while capital has arrived, human capital has not kept pace. Recently, I heard a claim: some embodied intelligence startups are running out of staff due to excessive fundraising. This isn’t a joke—it’s a real concern shared by investors.

The most extreme case involves a top-tier humanoid robotics company offering a staggering 124 million RMB to secure a “Chief Scientist.” By the second half of the year, this talent war intensified further. Multiple online groups now feature job postings from embodied intelligence firms seeking technical talent.

Embodied Intelligence Talent Shortage

The most direct manifestation of the talent shortage in embodied intelligence companies is reflected in the sheer number of open positions.

According to the 2026 Autumn Recruitment Market Insight Report by Maimai High-Precision Talent Intelligence Hub, new job postings in embodied intelligence surged 6x–7x year-on-year from January to July 2026. Within the humanoid robotics sub-sector, hiring growth was particularly explosive—some leading companies saw new position increases exceeding 831.88%, covering core roles such as algorithm engineers, mechanical structure engineers, and motion control engineers.

While demand grows at breakneck speed, supply fails to keep up. A survey conducted by Beijing Institute of Technology reveals that the current talent gap across industries and organizations in embodied intelligence exceeds 1 million people. Other data shows the supply-demand ratio for high-performance computing engineers plummeted from 0.99 in 2025 to just 0.26, shifting from “one position per person” to “four positions competing for one.” For embodied intelligence R&D roles, the ratio reaches an alarming 1:10—indicating a severe talent drought.

Under these conditions, the cost of acquiring talent continues to rise. A senior executive at a top-tier humanoid robotics firm noted: “Top-tier generalist talent is extremely scarce today. Recruiting even a fresh graduate in embodied intelligence comes at a steep price—PhDs typically command salaries around 1.5 million RMB annually, while top performers may require 3 to 5 million RMB in compensation.”

This exacerbates an already imbalanced talent supply-demand dynamic. Data indicates that only in 2025 did China’s Ministry of Education officially introduce the undergraduate program in embodied intelligence. Nationwide, just nine universities have been approved—meaning the annual output of qualified talent remains negligible.

Meanwhile, the lengthy training cycle further widens the talent gap. An AI industry investor admitted: “It takes several years to cultivate a qualified mechanical, automation, or precision electromechanical engineer—requiring hands-on experience, production line debugging, and project-level refinement.”

“For tech-driven startups needing rapid R&D deployment, fresh graduates simply cannot ramp up quickly like generic algorithm specialists.”

Beyond that, embodied intelligence is a nascent interdisciplinary field. While many professionals transition from autonomous driving, new energy vehicles, and traditional manufacturing sectors, how many truly stay and contribute remains uncertain. Moreover, embodied intelligence demands system-level construction capability—from zero to one—and real-world hardware deployment expertise, not just mastery of a single tech stack. This significantly raises the bar for elite talent acquisition.

Interns Now Earn 100K Monthly

In fact, this talent shortage trend began surfacing as early as spring this year—becoming even more pronounced in autumn.

A recent insider in the embodied intelligence space confirmed: “I’ve been traveling nonstop for weeks, barely touching the ground.” Another startup that recently closed multiple rounds totaling tens of billions in funding told me: “We’re hiring aggressively right now—if you know anyone suitable, please recommend them.”

Headhunter Icy confirmed this. She noted that demand for “urgent talent acquisition” is widespread. “Just for motion control experts, I’ve seen multiple companies actively searching—this clearly reflects the scarcity of talent in the sector.”

According to Icy, “It’s not just top-tier embodied intelligence firms chasing ‘experts’—startups are also going all-in.” All possible incentives—flash interviews, high signing bonuses, direct outreach from executives, customized project commitments—are now on the table.

Some startups have introduced policies where interns are paid full-time salaries during their internship. Candidates who commit to joining after graduation can start interning six months or even a year early and receive full-time compensation monthly. Even more strikingly, some companies are offering interns a monthly salary of 100,000 RMB.

What does 100,000 RMB per month mean? In the embodied intelligence ecosystem, it’s approaching the level of a seasoned algorithm engineer. Just two years ago, the same role might have paid only a few hundred RMB per day—earning 10,000 RMB monthly was rare. Today, a PhD student still in school, whose research aligns with key trends, can earn a salary equivalent to a full-time employee during internship.

More critically, this is not an isolated case. A headhunter revealed that such offers are no longer secrets among top players in the embodied intelligence space. “If you don’t match the offer, talent may go to your competitor.” As a result, public discourse has shifted from “Is this real?” to “How high can it go?”

This trend is already evident in the pricing of “Chief Scientists.” Icy notes that current salary ceilings are concentrated in three roles: “Chief Scientist in Embodied Intelligence,” “Senior Expert in Large Model Algorithms,” and “World Model Algorithm Specialist.” In the first half of this year alone, leading humanoid robotics firms offered starting salaries of 15 million RMB, with peak packages reaching up to 124 million RMB—directly benchmarking against OpenAI and Meta’s top-tier scientists.

Recently, internal chat screenshots from a rising top-tier embodied intelligence firm leaked, showing a founder publicly announcing plans to recruit a “Chief Scientist” with a 200 million RMB annual salary.

Reflecting on this wave, Icy said: “The industry is changing too fast. A year ago, no one was hiring for ‘World Model Algorithm Experts’—now it’s a hot role. What next year will bring? No one knows. But in the short term, this talent race shows no signs of cooling down.”

Amid the Talent Hunt, Core Competence Still Matters

Looking back at this surge in talent competition, it stems directly from capital FOMO (fear of missing out) driving mass entry. To date, over 935 funding rounds have occurred in core embodied intelligence sectors in 2026, totaling approximately 135.2 billion RMB—a tripling of previous years' figures over just three years.

Against this backdrop, an investor confided: “Some companies at the earliest stage, backed by what looks like a strong founding team, are securing substantial funding and high valuations.”

But such valuations and funding must eventually be repaid. Earlier, a top-tier investor expressed concern: “Likely in 2027, trillions—or even tens of trillions—of capital will need to be returned to LPs by investment firms. We must ask: What happens then? How should companies and investors respond?”

Of particular concern is how founders react after completing multiple rounds of funding within half a year. “It’s like suddenly having hundreds of millions in the bank—recruiting becomes cost-agnostic, offices get upgraded instantly, and marketing campaigns go into overdrive. But these actions don’t equate to technological breakthroughs or actual order execution.”

From this investor’s perspective, sometimes money arriving too easily isn’t a blessing—it distracts from fundamentals. “Embodied intelligence is a long-cycle, accumulation-heavy domain. From joint modules to motion control algorithms, to real-world generalization of physical prototypes—each step requires meticulous craftsmanship and deep internal discipline.”

“If teams focus too much on fundraising rhythm, valuation management, and external storytelling, neglecting genuine technical breakthroughs, they’ll likely be the first to fall when market differentiation sets in.”

A more practical concern is that some companies, due to excessive funding, inflate fixed costs without clear evidence of productivity. If future fundraising slows or technical progress falls short, these costs become immediate burdens.

From early this year to the end of the year, embodied intelligence has been in the spotlight—marking the peak period for talent compensation growth in the industry. History shows that every boom follows a pattern: widespread optimism at the beginning, ending in market fragmentation. This divergence affects not only companies but also individuals lifted by the wave.

Those PhD students holding 100,000 RMB/month internship offers, those founders offering 200 million RMB salaries to Chief Scientists, and those professionals traveling nonstop—everyone is riding the same wave, standing on the same ship. No one knows which way the tide will recede—but one thing is certain: when the fragmentation hits, not everyone will remain on deck.

Original article by Chuanzhong.com

Source: Chuanzhong.com