BEIJING (Reuters) -To the wolves of Tibet, China’s first ‘robot antelope’ may look as appetising as the real herds that roam the rugged tundra, but the “creature” is part of Beijing’s growing surveillance that now even reaches into its most remote places.
Its doe-like eyes and thick brown fur make the robotic ruminant nearly indistinguishable from the real antelope as the 5G- and AI-integrated imposter scans the Hoh Xil plateau with its sensors, footage from China’s state news agency Xinhua shows.
Developed by Xinhua, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Hangzhou-based DEEP Robotics, the robot antelope is equipped with 5G connectivity and artificial intelligence vision systems, enabling real-time monitoring of the migration, feeding and mating behaviours of the endangered species endemic to Tibet.
China is offering its robotics industry tens of billions in subsidies and was host to the 2025 World Robot Conference, which wrapped up on Tuesday.
5G arrived in Tibet in 2019, according to Chinese government documents, and the southwestern region reached 1 million users by 2022. With the completion of a 5G base station in the town of Gogmo in late 2023, every district in Tibet was covered, state media reported.
Beyond transmitting live images and tracking data on rare antelope species, Tibet’s 5G infrastructure now supports a growing range of AI applications — from small drones that can operate in areas impenetrable to radar, to telemedicine consultations and smart yak herding technologies, according to Chinese state media reports.
China has invested heavily in Tibet, boosting the at times restive region’s role in President Xi Jinping’s flagship Belt and Road infrastructure initiative by strengthening its trade ties with Central Asia, while also tightening surveillance over its population and extending Beijing’s digital footprint towards neighbouring rival India.
Analysts and human rights campaigners accuse Beijing of deploying “grey-zone” tactics against countries around the Tibetan plateau. A July report from the Center of Strategic and International Studies think tank documented instances of China leveraging local telecommunications networks to surveil dissidents living in neighbouring Nepal, alongside cases of cyber theft.
(Reporting by Joe Cash; Editing by Michael Perry)
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