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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.)
Courtesy of Unitree