News
SHANGHAI, March 18, 2026 — Haier Smart Home is turning the page on complicated apps and voice commands. Unveiling its latest innovations at the 2026 Appliance & Electronics World Expo (AWE) in Shanghai, the global technology leader proved that the future of the smart home lies in effortless simplicity. Instead of giving users more gadgets to manage, Haier is creating effortless living spaces that naturally perceive and respond to human needs in real time.
AI Vision 2.0: More comprehensive, more accurate, and faster
Last year, Haier introduced the original "AI Vision", which essentially gave appliances a human-like "optic nerve" to help keep an eye on boiling pots or sort the laundry. But this year, the newly upgraded AI Vision 2.0 is taking autonomous living to a whole new level. It doesn't just see and think; it recognizes more, understands complex context, and reacts faster than ever before.
You can find this massive leap forward in the newly unveiled Seeker Series:
It sees everything: Previous generation refrigerators AI Vision used to be limited to recognizing 230 specific items. But now, Seeker refrigerator recognizes every type of ingredient, and its sight has expanded to monitor both the fridge and the freezer compartments seamlessly.
It understands context: The Seeker washing machine now fuses visual sensing with advanced voice recognition. If you toss your clothes in and simply say, "I just got back from the hospital," the machine instantly understands the underlying need and automatically runs a deep-sterilization cycle.
It reacts in milliseconds: The Seeker air conditioner features dynamic human tracking. Just say, "Keep the breeze on me," and the airflow will track your exact position in the room with millisecond precision.
It brings the house together: The Seeker TV acts as the brain of the operation. It turns your biggest screen into a whole-home command center, letting you control every appliance in the house by seamlessly switching between natural voice commands and the remote.
Because of these breakthroughs, the Seeker Series has been officially certified as the industry's first Level 4 (L4) Smart Appliance Suite—the highest level of intelligent autonomy currently possible in China.
Robots and Appliances Teaming Up
While the AI Vision 2.0 upgrade gave appliances the sharp perception needed to share the household load, the introduction of Haier's new home robots means the smart home is now ready to take over the chores completely. At this year's expo, Haier officially unveiled three major categories of domestic service robots designed to integrate seamlessly into daily life. This lineup includes the "Haiwa Cleaning Robot," which proactively tidies up your living space without ever needing to be asked. For caregiving, the "Haiwa Companion Robot" serves as a watchful helper, reminding elderly family members to take their medication and immediately assisting or alerting others if it detects a fall. Finally, the "Haiwa Chores Robot" is designed specifically to team up with your existing appliances to get the heavy lifting done.
During a live demonstration at AWE, Haier showcased exactly what this robotic teamwork looks like in a modern kitchen. Imagine coming home from the grocery store and skipping the unpacking process entirely. The Chores Robot automatically brings the grocery bags to the refrigerator, using advanced barcode and visual recognition to sort everything perfectly. It places meat in the freezer, vegetables in the crisper, and nuts in the dry storage zone, while the refrigerator simultaneously activates the ideal preservation settings for each specific item. The ecosystem is even smart enough to catch common storage mistakes. If the robot picks up a banana, the AI Vision 2.0 system instantly recognizes it as a tropical fruit and intervenes, advising that it should be kept at room temperature rather than in the fridge. If you are ready for a snack right then and there, the robot can even politely peel the banana for you.
Today, Haier's powerful combination of "robots plus smart appliances" can already recognize and handle a wide variety of household tasks, bringing the dream of a truly "zero-labor" home closer to reality than ever before. Following the conclusion of AWE 2026, Haier plans to continue rapidly refining these robots based on real-world household scenarios. The goal is to accelerate their path to market, ensuring these advanced robotic assistants can begin freeing up time for families worldwide as soon as possible.
Tech Evolution Driven by Consumers
How does Haier know exactly what consumers want? By actually listening. During a global livestream event titled "Tech Evolution, AI Echoes," Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO of Haier Group, Zhou Yunjie revealed that the company’s biggest breakthroughs aren't happening in isolated labs, they are coming straight from the users. Over the past year, Zhou’s personal social channels have gathered over 9,000 direct suggestions from consumers around the world, with 17 of those already fast-tracked into official R&D projects.
When users complained about the hassle of sorting multiple loads of laundry, Haier responded by building a revolutionary Three-drum Multiwash that quickly sold over 400,000 units globally. The company also tackles more profound human challenges. After families expressed the overwhelming stress of caring for elderly parents, particularly those with Alzheimer's, Haier designed empathetic, dignity-preserving solutions like AI-assisted toilets and launched public awareness campaigns for elder care.
"Our goal isn't just to be seen by the world," Zhou explained. "It's to truly see our users. We want to turn their expectations into an accessible reality."
The resonance of this user-first approach is clearly reflected in Haier’s record-breaking 2025 financial performance. Global revenue climbed 6.3% year-over-year to 426.8 billion RMB, while total profits grew 6.7% to 32.2 billion RMB. But the true measure of this success lies in its global adoption: the Haier smart home platform has now surpassed 130 million registered users worldwide, generating a massive 86.1 billion smart scene interactions over the past year.
These are not just corporate data points; They are votes of confidence from millions of families choosing a more effortless way of living. For Haier, the ultimate destination of AI is not a cold, calculating arms race for computing power. Rather, it is about using continuous technological evolution to seamlessly manage life's everyday routines. It is about liberating people from the daily burden of household chores so they have the time and energy to experience the authentic, soulful moments that truly matter.
As technological innovation accelerates in the R&D labs, what it ultimately creates in the living room is a truly intuitive home where Artificial Intelligence acts as a genuine expression of human care. This is Haier’s blueprint for the home of tomorrow: a world where technology silently fades into the background, allowing life itself to take center stage.