Not a Doctor… An AI-Powered Robot Enters the Operating Room

In a scene that feels closer to science fiction, #AI has taken an unprecedented leap toward real-world medical practice after a #Chinese_surgical_robot managed to carry out a delicate bile duct procedure entirely on its own.

The experiment, conducted on December 24, was performed by Toumai, a surgical robot developed by Shanghai MicroPort MedBot, and powered by an advanced AI model known as Neuron. The procedure was carried out on a pig weighing approximately 30 kilograms, marking the first practical test of a fully autonomous AI-driven surgery.

According to the company, the robot independently executed the core surgical steps, including closing and cutting the bile duct. It successfully completed 88% of the procedure on the first attempt, before making real-time adjustments based on live image analysis and the status of surgical instruments, ultimately completing the operation successfully.

The system relies on the Neuron model, a multimodal #AI system with 3 billion training parameters, trained on more than 23,000 videos of surgical procedures. The company explained that this model enables the robot to mimic the decision-making processes of highly experienced surgeons and dynamically refine its surgical strategy during the operation.

This experiment represents a global first, signaling a major shift from remotely controlled robotic surgery to fully autonomous surgical systems,a transition that could redefine the future of healthcare.

Brian Zhang, the company’s Chief Medical Officer, said the achievement highlights the immense potential of large-scale AI models in supporting surgeons by enhancing precision and consistency, while maintaining specialized medical oversight.

Despite the breakthrough, the company stressed that the procedure was conducted under full supervision by human surgeons, with the ability to intervene immediately if necessary. It also emphasized that the experiment does not constitute direct evidence of the system’s safety or effectiveness in human surgeries, and that its results cannot yet be generalized to clinical practice.

The company confirmed that the system has not received any regulatory approvals to perform autonomous surgeries on humans and has not yet entered human clinical trials.

This development comes amid an accelerating race among technology companies to integrate #AI into the medical sector, whether through robotic surgery systems such as Da Vinci or through advanced diagnostic models.

In June 2025, Alibaba unveiled an AI model for the early detection of stomach cancer, following another pancreatic cancer detection tool that received “breakthrough device” designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Meanwhile, Tencent developed Aimis, a medical imaging platform designed for cloud-based scientific research and the management of #digital_medical_images.

This growing momentum suggests that AI-powered autonomous surgery may be closer to reality than previously thought—though for now, it remains firmly within the realm of experimentation and strict regulatory oversight.