Unitree Robotics
At this year's Spring Festival Gala—China's most-watched broadcast—16 humanoid robots wearing red and white floral jackets took the stage, twirling handkerchiefs as part of a traditional dance. They were manufactured by Unitree, a Chinese robotics company that has gained global attention for its agile open-source robots seen in viral videos mimicking kung fu and tai chi moves. But Unitree products offer more than entertainment. Unitree's Go 2 robot dog—available from just $1,600, compared to Boston Dynamics' $75,000 'Spot'—has been deployed on Ukrainian battlefields and used for disaster relief and property security. One of China's 'six little dragons' revitalizing its tech sector and disrupting the worlds' (the best known of which is DeepSeek), Unitree is expanding across the country to meet demand. Founder Wang Xingxing likes to think big. 'Human beings may be the passers-by of the universe,' he has written, detailing the company's vision, 'but science and technology must be eternal.'
Contact us at letters@time.com.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
New York Times
26 minutes ago
- New York Times
Trump's Policy Bill Could Put the U.S. Further Behind China
We are covering the breaking news of the Senate's passage of President Trump's sprawling policy bill today. As Maxine Joselow and Brad Plumer report, Republicans voted to dismantle many of the lucrative tax credits for solar panels, wind turbines, electric cars and other green technologies contained in President Biden's 2022 signature climate law. The Senate's vote represents a failure of Democrats' attempts to give the law staying power, even as the law directed billions to Republican-led districts. Read more. In an article we published yesterday, Somini Sengupta, Brad Plumer, Keith Bradsher and I took a deep dive into the stunning divergence between the U.S. and China's energy strategies. Put simply, China has taken an enormous lead in clean energy and is extending that lead by the month. In May, for example, solar panels in China generated as much energy as one-third of all American power generation, combined. The U.S., meanwhile, under President Trump's 'energy dominance' agenda, is turning its back on renewables and doubling down on fossil fuels like gas, oil and coal. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
Bloomberg
34 minutes ago
- Bloomberg
Huawei Bid to Dismiss US Trade Sanction Case Rejected by Judge
Huawei Technologies Co. must face a criminal trial next year in New York after a federal judge refused a request by the Chinese wireless equipment maker to dismiss more than a dozen charges, including racketeering, trade secret theft and violating US sanctions on Iran. US District Judge Ann Donnelly on Tuesday rejected arguments by China's largest technology company that there wasn't enough evidence in the indictment to support 13 of the 16 charges.
TechCrunch
an hour ago
- TechCrunch
Amazon deploys its 1 millionth robot, releases generative AI model
After 13 years of deploying robots into its warehouses, Amazon reached a new milestone. The tech behemoth now has 1 million robots in its warehouses, the company announced Monday. This one millionth robot was recently delivered to an Amazon fulfillment facility in Japan. That figure puts Amazon on track to reach another landmark: Its vast network of warehouses may soon have the same number of robots working as people, according to reporting from The Wall Street Journal. The WSJ also reported that 75% of Amazon's global deliveries are now assisted in some way by a robot. TechCrunch reached out to Amazon for more information. The company also announced it's releasing a new generative AI model called DeepFleet for its warehouse robots. This AI model, which can coordinate the robots' routes within the company's warehouses more efficiently, will help increase the speed of its robotic fleet by 10%, according to Amazon. The company used Amazon SageMaker — the AWS cloud studio that helps build and deploy AI models — to create DeepFleet. Amazon trained the model on its own warehouse and inventory data. Amazon's one millionth robot represents more than just a number. The company has improved its fleet of robots in recent years, adding new capabilities and models. Techcrunch event Save $450 on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Save $200+ on your TechCrunch All Stage pass Build smarter. Scale faster. Connect deeper. Join visionaries from Precursor Ventures, NEA, Index Ventures, Underscore VC, and beyond for a day packed with strategies, workshops, and meaningful connections. Boston, MA | REGISTER NOW In May, the company unveiled its latest robot, Vulcan. This model has two arms, one designed for rearranging inventory and another with a camera and suction cup to grab items. Most notably, these Vulcan robots have a sense of 'touch' that allows it to feel the items it is grabbing, according to Amazon. In October 2024, the company announced its 'next-generation fulfillment centers,' which would include 10x as many robots as their current facilities, in addition to human workers. The first of these new robotic-powered centers opened shortly after in Shreveport, Louisiana, near the Texas border. Amazon originally started building up its robotic capabilities back in 2012 alongside its acquisition of Kiva Systems.
