Unitree chief sees robot breakthrough within 2 to 10 years

Unitree founder Wang Xingxing said the humanoid robotics industry is moving toward a "ChatGPT moment" that could arrive in as little as two to three years, though he said five to 10 years is more likely at the outer bound. Speaking at a robot conference in Beijing, Wang described a tipping point where robots placed in unfamiliar homes could complete about 80% of tasks from voice or text commands. The comments came a day after Unitree's Shanghai market debut surged nearly sixfold before the shares fell 11% on Thursday. Unitree, based in Hangzhou, is the world's largest maker of robot dogs and the second-largest humanoid robot maker by shipments. Wang said the company is investing heavily in world models but still trails in real-world physical AI applications.