Vogue World's Milan finale featured undressed humanoid robots from Chinese manufacturer Unitree dancing to Gigi D'Agostino's 'L'Amour Toujours' in the Galleria. The segment, called The Age of Intelligence, sparked viral mockery, including a widely shared photo of Valentino creative director Alessandro Michele's pained expression. The show was sponsored partly by Meta Glasses and OpenAI, and Vogue has already announced its next edition will be held in San Francisco.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-09-23
GMO AI & Robotics Trading has deployed what it calls Japan's first humanoid ambulance, a van fitted with diagnostic gear, spare parts and a backup robot to swap in when one of its humanoids fails in the field. The single vehicle, based at GMO's Shibuya headquarters, will service humanoids the company operates, including units working as baggage handlers at Haneda Airport with JAL Ground Service. Broken robots are hauled back to GMO's Humanoid Lab for repair while a spare continues the job on site.
engadget.com
· 2026-09-16
A Caijing Magazine investigation, translated by ChinaTalk, details how Unitree Robotics founder Wang Xingxing personally controls minute product decisions—from material colors to screw lengths—to drive down costs. This hands-on, cost-obsessed approach has helped Unitree sell some of the cheapest humanoid and quadruped robots on the market, including a $13,500 G1 model and a $4,900 R1 model, though employees say it has come at the expense of quality control.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-14
A journalist bought a quadruped robot from Chinese manufacturer Unitree and used it to commute nearly four miles round-trip in Washington, DC, drawing crowds and curious questions along the way. On the uphill afternoon walk home in 87°F heat, the robot's battery dropped to 5% and its internal temperature hit 84°C before it collapsed onto its back just steps from the front door.
arstechnica.com
· 2026-09-12
Days after the World Humanoid Robot Games concluded in China, the PLA's official newspaper urged researchers to speed the shift of humanoid robot technology from labs into military training. A Reuters review of over 100 Chinese procurement notices, patents, academic papers and defense-company documents found the country is actively researching combat applications for these machines and planning for eventual battlefield use alongside robot dogs and unmanned vehicles.
techspot.com
· 2026-09-07
CCTV footage from a store in Saratov, Russia shows a Unitree G1 humanoid robot reacting to a light shove from a customer by launching into a kickboxing-style routine, complete with fighting music, before store clerks intervene. One of its kicks appears to connect with a clerk, and the robot eventually halts and raises its arms into a T-pose before being sent for a reboot.
futurism.com
· 2026-09-06
Recent robotics showcases—from Tesla's Optimus serving drinks to Unitree robots performing synchronized martial arts and setting a sub-9-second 100-meter sprint record—have fueled public fears that humanoid robots will soon replace human workers. But researchers interviewed say these choreographed demonstrations are misleading indicators of real-world capability, since flashy acrobatics don't translate into the dexterity, adaptability, and reliability needed for everyday labor tasks.
understandingai.org
· 2026-09-02
At the Actuate conference, robotics AI builders acknowledged that while robot bodies keep improving, the underlying AI models still can't reliably perform valuable work. This gap was underscored by Unitree's stock losing nearly half its value days after its blockbuster IPO valued the Chinese robot maker at $66 billion.
techcrunch.com
· 2026-08-26
Unitree Robotics released footage of its headless humanoid, Superman, jumping 6.5 feet and sprinting over 28 mph, both exceeding known human records. Two days later the Hangzhou company debuted on Shanghai's stock exchange, with shares spiking 629% above the offer price and pushing its intraday valuation near $66 billion before settling at $50.8 billion.
fastcompany.com
· 2026-08-24
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