The Unitree GD01 Is a Giant Mecha Robot You Can Actually Buy
Unitree is a Chinese company known for making adorable, relatively affordable robots that dance and shuffle and such. Last night, it revealed its latest creation, which is something of a departure: a giant, walking, crawling, transforming, wall-smashing “mecha” called the GD01.
An introductory video for the GD01—set to a thundering rock guitar soundtrack—shows the company’s founder and CEO, Xingxing Wang, holding hands with the robot before climbing into its prodigious, open-air belly. A disclaimer added to Unitree’s social media post reads: “Please everyone be sure to use the robot in a Friendly and Safe manner.”
The video cuts to a view in which GD01 has no human pilot on board, but still manages to smash a wall of cinder blocks. Unitree later shows the red-limbed robot contorting itself by bending backwards and crawling on its hands and legs. (In this crabwalk position, the human operator would be lying on their back, looking at the ceiling or sky, but honestly who cares at that point.)
Unitree is a fast-rising robotics startup based in Hangzhou, China. The company already makes the world’s most popular four-legged and humanoid robots. Its G1 humanoids are routinely found in social media clips dancing, performing acrobatics, and doing kung-fu. This is its first foray into giant mechas. (The company confirmed to WIRED that the GD01 was an actual product it is selling, not an elaborate prank.)
Unitree has been successful in part because its robots are remarkably inexpensive. The cheapest G1 model costs around $15,000, while US-made humanoid robots can cost 10 times more. Experts say the company’s mastery of China’s vast and complex hardware supply chain has helped it gain an edge in building robots cheaply. Unitree’s hardware is also easy for researchers to configure and deploy AI programs on.
Expected to go public this year, Unitree is a rising star among Chinese tech companies. Its robots performed parkour and synchronized martial arts at a televised spring festival event a few months ago. These routines involved a new trick: having numerous robots communicate with each other wirelessly in order to tightly synchronize their movements.
Unitree’s robots are either remotely controlled or allowed to perform relatively simple actions autonomously. Its humanoids are not particularly dextrous, and they lack the AI needed to perform complex tasks in messy real-world environments. But the GD01 looks more geared towards destruction—and garnering publicity for Unitree—than anything else.
With AI companies poised to make millionaires and billionaires out of their employees, I can think of no better way to flaunt your AI-fueled wealth. Forget a Ferrari or a Patek Philippe, and impress your coworkers by turning up in a GD01. After smashing your way into the office, perhaps.
