36Kr reports on Magic Lab's (魔法原子) Magic-VLA K02, a VLA (Vision-Language-Action) model for humanoid robots. The standout: the model uses a "hierarchical dual-system" architecture — a "fast" system for reactive control and a "slow" system for planning — that handles long-sequence household chores effectively.
The "hierarchical dual-system" architecture: Magic-VLA K02 has two coupled systems. (1) The "slow system" — a large VLM (Qwen2.5-VL-72B) that handles high-level planning ("what subtasks do I need to do to clean the kitchen?"). (2) The "fast system" — a small VLA (1B parameters) that handles low-level control ("how do I grasp the sponge?"). The two systems run at different rates (slow at 1 Hz, fast at 100 Hz), and the fast system is "interrupted" by the slow system when replanning is needed.
The "long-sequence chores" highlight: traditional VLAs struggle with "long-sequence" tasks (e.g., "clean the kitchen" requires 10+ subtasks, each requiring different actions). Magic-VLA K02's "hierarchical dual-system" handles these tasks by separating "what to do" (slow system) from "how to do it" (fast system). The result is significantly better performance on long-sequence tasks.
The benchmark: on a set of "long-sequence household chores" (cleaning, cooking, laundry), Magic-VLA K02 scores 71.3, on par with the best closed-source VLAs (Google RT-2, Tesla Optimus). The "hierarchical dual-system" is the key — single-system VLAs score only 50-55 on the same benchmark.
The "first domestic reveal" angle: Magic-VLA K02 is the first VLA from a Chinese startup to match the closed-source SOTA. The "domestic VLA" is significant for the Chinese humanoid robot ecosystem, which has been concerned about dependence on foreign models.
The bigger takeaway: "hierarchical VLA" is the right architecture for long-sequence tasks. The "single model does everything" approach is wasteful, and the "hierarchical dual-system" approach is significantly more efficient. For the industry, this signals that the next round of VLA competition will be in "hierarchical architecture" design, not in "bigger model" design.