Is China Replacing Workers With Robots?

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Episode details

News,·25 Aug 2026,·37 mins

Available for over a year

Today, we discuss China’s £14.7bn investment into AI and robotics in the hopes of overtaking the US as the world leader in innovation. China has two million robots already working in factories, and is investing heavily in the hopes that one day they could bridge gaps in an already sluggish economy. What can these robots do? And what does the future look like for workers? Our China correspondent Laura Bicker has been to some of these factories, and is on the line to debrief. Plus, the government has announced more details about their housing plans, including where 70,000 social and affordable homes will be built in England over the next 10 years. 60% of the new homes would be for social rent, despite Andy Burnham telling The Social Housing Podcast in May he "would actually devote all of it to social housing.”. Is Andy Burnham delivery what he promised? Adam is joined by Alex and housing correspondent Tarah Welsh. You can now listen to Newscast on a smart speaker. If you want to listen, just say "Ask BBC Sounds to play Newscast”. It works on most smart speakers. You can join our Newscast online community here: https://bbc.in/newscastdiscord Get in touch with Newscast by emailing newscast@bbc.co.uk or send us a WhatsApp on +44 0330 123 9480. New episodes released every day. If you're in the UK, for more News and Current Affairs podcasts from the BBC, listen on BBC Sounds: https://bbc.in/4guXgXd Newscast brings you daily analysis of the latest political news stories from the BBC. The presenter was Adam Fleming. It was made by Jack Maclaren with Shiler Mahmoudi. The social producer was Jem Westgate. The technical producer was Hannah Montgomery. The assistant editor is Chris Gray. The senior news editor is Sam Bonham.