His robotics company IPO'd this week. He still thinks a humanoid breakthrough will take years.
Business Insider · 2026-08-21
Unitree CEO Wang believes the "ChatGPT moment" for embodied intelligence, where a robot can perform 80% of tasks in an unfamiliar home environment through voice commands, could arrive in two to three years, or potentially five to 10 years if development slows. The primary bottleneck, according to Wang, is enabling AI to reliably interact with the physical world, despite Unitree's successes testing robots in automotive factories and its own facilities.
Founded in 2016, China-based Unitree gained recognition for its four-legged robot dogs before venturing into humanoid robots, establishing itself as a key player in the global robotics boom and highlighting China's competitive edge in physical AI. While Wang's outlook is more tempered than some, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla shares a similar timeline for household robots, estimating a $50 trillion market opportunity, with $40 trillion from humanoids alone. Khosla predicts most households will have humanoid robots by the 2030s, performing specific tasks like cooking, potentially costing $300 to $400 a month. Unitree's G1, priced at $13,500, is currently among the most affordable humanoid options available.
*The full article also explores the broader economic implications and comparative market valuations in the nascent humanoid robotics sector.*