Building and buying - why Unitree Robotics’ mega IPO suggests that China may win the humanoid robot race
My first experience of a Unitree robot was, fittingly enough, in China. At Tencent’s Global Digital Ecosystem Summit last September, Unitree G1s waved at passers-by in the vast hall at the Shenzhen World Exhibition and Convention Center. The 1.3m humanoids have been regular fixtures in TikTok and Instagram videos, running, dancing, kickboxing and jumping into the bold future imagined by robot makers.
But in the exhibition hall that day, closer examination revealed them to be tele-operated by young programmers, who were waving too – albeit from behind the scenes. But when a G1 was let loose to work autonomously, the robot careened dangerously into the crowd, confused by the thousands of onlookers, who backed away as it stomped and staggered towards them, waving its arms like a stroppy teenager.
But Chinese behemoth Unitree Robotics (Hangzhou Yushu Technology Co Ltd) met a very different public reception this week as it floated...
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