Is it logical that machines can give birth to humans in the future? This is an idea that exists in movies like The Matrix where humans are raised in pods since the fetus and then live in a simulated world. But in China, the company Kaiwa Technology claims that they will offer robots that can raise human babies in artificial wombs and then give birth to them as early as 2026.
Kaiwa Technology was founded by Dr. Zhang Qifeng and he claims that his company's robotic womb technology is at a mature enough stage to be offered next year. Couples who want a baby conceived by a robot only need to pay RMB 100,000 (~RM 59,000) for this robotic surrogate mother service.
Despite claiming that the technology is ready to be offered, Kaiwa Technology did not share how the fertilization process, implantation in the robot's womb and how the baby's nutrients will be carried out will be done. At the same time, the company has also not received clearance from the Chinese government to offer new procedures that have not undergone human clinical trials.
The idea of raising human babies in artificial wombs is not new. In 2017, we reported on the successful conception of lambs in a human-made womb made of plastic.
In an experiment conducted by the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, eight lamb fetuses successfully survived in a human-made womb for eight weeks. The plastic bag used served as a substitute for the womb and the lambs were surrounded by amniotic fluid, also made of man-made material. However, in this experiment, the lamb fetuses were removed from their mothers’ wombs before they were fully grown to maturity.