Unitree’s IPO frenzy collides with its CEO’s robot reality check

Unitree’s IPO frenzy collides with its CEO’s robot reality check
Unitree’s blockbuster Shanghai debut has turned dancing, backflipping humanoids into one of China’s hottest market bets. But even as investors chased the stock skyward, the company’s founder warned that useful general-purpose robots remain far from assured.

On Wednesday, the Hangzhou-based company raised about 6.1 billion yuan, or roughly $900 million, in mainland China’s first major humanoid-robot IPO. Shares jumped as much as 629% intraday before closing 460% higher, an eruption of demand that one account framed as evidence that Chinese investors were “going wild for humanoid robots.”

The first-day surge put Unitree’s value at about $66 billion by one estimate—above U.S. rival Figure AI’s last reported $39 billion valuation—though another calculation placed its closing market capitalization nearer $50 billion. Reports also characterized the opening as a roughly 600% surge, underscoring how sharply the stock swung after listing.

The enthusiasm rests on a potent national story. Unitree’s robots have become fixtures of China’s Spring Festival Gala, while the company has benefited from a deep domestic supply chain and official interest in humanoids as strategic technology. Chinese companies accounted for about 97% of global humanoid-robot shipments in the first half of 2026, with Unitree holding an estimated 31% share, according to Smart Analytics Global data cited in reporting.

Yet Wang Xingxing, Unitree’s 36-year-old founder, offered a conspicuous counterweight the following day. Robots could reach their “ChatGPT moment” in “2 to 3 years at the fastest, and 5 or even 10 years at the slowest,” he said. His test is demanding: a robot should enter an unfamiliar home or other setting and complete about 80% of tasks from voice or text instructions.

That caution is not academic. Wang acknowledged that robots remain less efficient than people and must be retrained for each new task. Analysts likewise question whether shipments can become durable commercial demand, while a U.S. ban on new foreign-made robots threatens an important export channel. After the debut euphoria, Unitree shares fell about 19% Thursday and another 2% Friday—a quick reminder that a viral robot routine is not yet a mass-market business.

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