Unitree shows how China turned the robot dog into a business
aakashgupta · x · 2026-07-25
This post argues that the robot dog was invented in the U.S., but China turned it into a business.
It contrasts Boston Dynamics and Unitree:
- Boston Dynamics created the category with BigDog in 2005, later commercialized Spot at $75,000 per unit.
- Despite the innovation, the company has never been profitable and changed hands from Google to SoftBank to Hyundai, with Hyundai valuing it at $1.1B.
- Unitree, founded in 2016 by Wang Xingxing, took a different path: use cheap electric motors instead of hydraulics, betting on manufacturable supply chains in China.
The post also cites the AS2-W video specs: 18kg weight, 40-degree slope climbing, 16kg payload, 30+ km range, and cliff-crossing via reinforcement learning.
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