Now robots are replacing students.
The rising Chinese startup DroidUp just unveiled its new android that’s reportedly the first robot to enter a PhD program. DroidUp, formerly known as Shanghai Droid, says the robot, named Xueba 01, combines blends the lifelike qualities of its AI-powered robotic heads and its general-purpose humanoids.
The Shanghai Theatre Academy officially accepted the fake human as a doctoral student in its drama and film program during the 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC). The event, held in Shanghai, featured more than 60 distinct humanoid robot models from about 80 companies.
As part of an experiment, the AI robot will study emotional expression, storytelling, and human machine dynamics alongside real students. It’s pursuing a four-year degree focused on traditional Chinese opera under professor Yang Qingqing. Its studies will cover stage performance, scriptwriting, set design, language generation, and more.
It will attend classes, rehearse operas, and submit a final dissertation. It shouldn’t have any problems passing. According to the South China Morning Post, the droid’s name is Chinese slang for straight-A student.
Standing about 175 cm (5’7″), the Xueba 01 has silicone skin allowing for humanlike expressions and speaks Mandarin. DroidUp developed it in collaboration with the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST).
Also during the Shanghai AI conference, DroidUp launched its lightweight Walker 02 bipedal humanoid robot. The Walker 02, standing 170 cm (5’5″) tall and weighing just 30 kg (66 lbs), is reportedly being tested for scenarios like public security patrols and factory worker training.