# When robots are helping, who is watching? > Source: > Published: 2026-08-12 23:00:00+00:00 # When robots are helping, who is watching? Humanoid robots will one day be ubiquitous, helpful – and threaten our privacy FOR years, making sandwiches and picking my trousers up off the floor have been some of my regular household tasks. Soon, I will be able to outsource this to Iron, the humanoid robot that car company-turned-“physical AI” company XPeng intends to launch next year. An Iron will eventually clean people’s houses, [chairman He Xiaopeng said at a media event on Jul 16](https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/lifestyle/xpeng-mona-l03-category-ev-could-usher-robot-helpers), though businesses will get to buy them first when the robot launches next year. The appetite for this kind of device is not limited to my own household. By 2050, Morgan Stanley calculates, the market for humanoid robots will be worth US$5 trillion. [TRENDING NOW](/pulse?ref=trending-now) How BYD disrupted Singapore’s car market – and why the strategy is turning on itself Vietnam seeks US$76 billion a year from capital markets to ease reliance on banks Too little, too late? Manila’s billion-dollar bid to ignite its sputtering EV industry Two-thirds of Sentosa Cove resales in the red, with average loss topping S$1 million since 2023