China Unveils AI LaserWeeder Robot That Zaps 320,000 Weeds per Hour - Will It Challenge U.S. Herbicide Dependence?
A Chinese robot destroys weeds in just 5 milliseconds. Could this laser tech transform global weed control and disrupt U.S. reliance on chemical herbicides?
China has entered the race to revolutionize weed control, unveiling a fully autonomous, AI-powered robot capable of eliminating up to 320,000 weeds per hour using lasers-without the need for chemical herbicides.
The breakthrough was announced at a product launch in Wuhan, China, where Huahong Technology presented the Hg LaserWeeder, a robot designed to identify and destroy unwanted plants in under 5 milliseconds. Touted as China's first intelligent laser weeding machine, it's equipped with up to 32 laser heads, combining AI-enabled cameras with a crop-weed recognition database trained on thousands of species.
According to Huahong, the Hg LaserWeeder offers a weed removal rate exceeding 95%, aiming to replace herbicides-which the company labeled as the "number one soil killer"-in order to mitigate chemical runoff into water systems and loterm soil degradation.
This innovation comes as the global agriculture sector seeks more sustainable alternatives to chemical weed control, particularly amid increasing environmental regulations and consumer demand for pesticide-free crops.
The robot's performance has already been tested in field trials across Yunnan and Heilongjiang provinces, and international pre-orders are open, with mass production slated for 2026. Huahong's chairman, Ma Xinqiang, emphasized ongoing investment in agricultural robotics to bolster eco-friendly precision farming.
While laser-based weeding tools are not new to the Western market-U.S. companies have also developed similar autonomous laser weeders-this move signals that China is escalating its investment in agtech, seeking to leapfrog traditional herbicide dependency with scalable robotic solutions.
With U.S. farmers facing mounting pressure over herbicide regulations, input costs, and soil health, technologies like the Hg LaserWeeder could shape the future of non-chemical weed management. However, the adoption curve in North America will depend on cost, training infrastructure, and how well this AI system adapts to diverse crop environments outside China.