In China, finding a "dazi" — a Chinese expression often translated as a buddy for shared interests or activities — has become a popular social trend. Among them, tech-powered smart "dazi" are taking the internet by storm. From making daily life more convenient to upgrading consumer experiences and improving productivity, these smart buddies are rapidly becoming part of everyday life. Behind their constant evolution lies the steady support of intellectual property (IP). Let's meet some of China's newest smart buddies.

An all-in-one retail assistant

Inside more than 120 retail stores called the Galaxy Space Capsule across China, the humanoid robots developed by Beijing Galbot Co., Ltd. can do far more than greet customers. They can recommend products, retrieve items, and hand over products to customers. In the buildings of Beijing's Zhongguancun area, the robots can even prepare and serve hot snacks like sausages and corn. In smart pharmacies already operating in dozens of Chinese cities, the company's humanoid robots are just as busy. These "24/7 sales assistants" can process online orders, identify medicines, pick products, and handle packaging, helping improve efficiency during late-night hours, emergencies, and peak demand periods.

"IP has been at the heart of our long-term technology strategy from the very beginning," said Zhao Yuli, Chief Strategy Officer of Galbot. During the commercialization of products such as the Galaxy Space Capsule and smart pharmacies, the company has established a comprehensive IP framework covering patents, trademarks, software copyrights, and global protection strategies. According to Zhao, IP protection plays a pivotal role in both supporting technological innovation and safeguarding compliance throughout continuous product iteration. On the R&D side, prior patent searches and technology assessments help reduce infringement risks and avoid repetitive R&D, while strategic patent portfolios protect core innovations and build strong competitive advantages. On the product side, a comprehensive IP framework helps prevent counterfeiting and infringement, supporting large-scale replication and broader market deployment.

An interactive food & beverage master

While strolling through shopping districts or tourist attractions, you may come across a rather unusual food and beverage "master." It can prepare hundreds of beverages including coffee, cocktails, milk tea, and snacks including hot dogs and ice cream with remarkable precision. Thanks to multiple robotic arms working together, the "master" can serve 300 to 400 drinks per day. Even more impressively, it can analyze customers' taste preferences and moods to offer customized drinks. This is the all-in-one beverage robot independently developed by ‌Robo Space.

"As a technology-driven creative company, we view IP assets as core assets. Our IP efforts not only continue to advance technology upgrades and business model innovation, enabling the commercialization of our consumer entertainment service robots through a light-asset model combining technology and brand licensing, but also give us greater confidence to expand into new markets and transform our first-mover advantage into a strong brand influence," said Zhu Yongqiang, Founder and Chairman of Robo Space. He noted that to date, the company has filed more than 20 patent applications related to intelligent beverage robots and intelligent entertainment robots, with 15 already granted, forming a multi-layered IP portfolio covering technologies, components, modules, complete machines, and product designs.

A precise and reliable mobility navigator

In Beijing E-Town, passengers can simply tap their phones to take a self-driving robotaxi operated by Baidu's Apollo Go service. The robotaxi can independently handle tasks such as order processing, route planning, traffic light recognition, and pedestrian avoidance, ensuring the safe transport of passengers to their destinations.

Trained in China's highly complex urban traffic environment, Apollo Go has become one of the world's leading players in autonomous driving powered by large AI models. Its technologies are capable of handling citywide, full-scenario operations and adapting to diverse road systems around the globe. By February 2026, Apollo Go had provided more than 20 million rides across 26 cities worldwide. Its autonomous vehicles have accumulated over 300 million kilometers of driving mileage, including more than 190 million kilometers in fully driverless operations.

The deep integration of innovative technologies and IP protection has provided both risk management support and commercial momentum for the global expansion of Apollo Go. Over the years, it has built a comprehensive IP protection system covering patents, trademarks, copyrights, and trade secrets to safeguard its core technologies, products, and brands. Apollo Go aims to further improve its services and user experience while accelerating the commercialization of autonomous driving and bringing safer, smarter, and more efficient mobility services to consumers worldwide.