Tech giants embracing humanoid robots

Visitors check out a humanoid robot of Chinese tech startup Unitree Robotics during an expo in Beijing in April. In a market accustomed to eye-catching innovations from the likes of Tesla's Optimus and Boston Dynamics' Atlas, the global humanoid robotics industry was recently wowed by a new product from Chinese startup Unitree Robotics. Despite its smaller size compared to Unitree H1 — a 1.8-meter, 47-kilogram laser-radar-equipped humanoid the company unveiled last year — the G1 is also equipped with advanced technologies, including LiDAR, depth cameras and dexterous hands. Driven by the self-developed large language model UnifoLM, G1 possesses powerful motor capabilities and intelligent learning abilities, allowing for precise object manipulation, Unitree Robotics said. The story behind Unitree Robotics' ability to offer such low prices traces back to its years of experience in developing quadruped robots and its self-developed electric drive technology.