Chinese Robot Makes History by Completing Autonomous Surgery Without Human Intervention

Shanghai: A surgical robot developed by a Chinese company has successfully carried out a complex biliary operation without human intervention, marking a global first in autonomous robotic surgery.

The experiment was conducted on December 24 by Shanghai MicroPort MedBot, which used its Toumai surgical robot powered by the company’s proprietary Neuron multimodal AI model. The procedure was performed on a 30kg pig, the company said in a statement released on Wednesday.

According to MedBot, the robot autonomously completed key surgical steps, including bile duct clamping and cutting, successfully executing 88 per cent of the procedure on its first attempt. The system then made real-time adjustments and corrections to complete the surgery.

The robot’s decision-making capability is driven by the Neuron AI model, a multimodal action-generation system trained on three billion parameters and 23,000 surgical video clips. The model enables the robot to simulate the clinical judgement of senior surgeons by analysing intraoperative images and instrument data, allowing it to optimise surgical strategies during the procedure.

MedBot described the experiment as the first instance globally of a surgical robot completing a procedure autonomously, representing a shift from traditional robot-assisted or remotely operated surgeries to fully AI-driven operations. Brian Chang, Chief Medical Officer at MedBot, said the milestone demonstrates how large-scale AI models could support surgeons by improving precision and consistency under expert supervision.

The company stressed that the surgery was conducted under full human supervision, with surgeons able to intervene at any stage. It also cautioned that the demonstration does not provide direct evidence of the system’s safety or effectiveness in humans and should not be extrapolated to clinical practice.

MedBot added that the system has not received regulatory approval for autonomous human surgery in any jurisdiction and has not entered human clinical trials.

Following the announcement, shares of Hong Kong-listed MicroPort MedBot closed nearly 2 per cent lower at HK$25.68 on Wednesday.

The experiment highlights growing efforts within the technology sector to expand the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare, alongside developments by global and Chinese firms. In recent years, advances have ranged from robotic-assisted surgery platforms to AI models designed to detect cancers at early stages and enhance medical imaging analysis.