Yoko Kubota

Robots with enhanced mobility and AI-powered capabilities will become increasingly important in military applications.

Robots increasingly will become part of national defense strategies.

The Chinese government understands this.

It really shows how China has become not only a leader in EVs, but also a laboratory of experimentation when it comes to dealing with associated technologies.

This decision comes after some accidents in China.

State media here reported that last year, one of these accidents was a deadly one with a passenger that got stuck in a car with this kind of retractable door handle.

And there were people that tried to take this person out, but the door couldn't be opened.

So that has spiked public concerns and probably also helped authorities consider this kind of rules.

Nearly half of all the cars sold in China are EVs or plug-in hybrids these days.

It'll be interesting to see if we continue to see auto regulations set in China have an impact on car design worldwide and how people think about safety of electric vehicles and connected cars.