Robots Nearing a "ChatGPT Moment", China's Unitree Says

Wang Xingxing, CEO of Chinese company Unitree, anticipates a breakthrough when robots will be able to complete most tasks in unfamiliar environments based solely on voice or text commands.

"We hope that in the future, we can see a robot be introduced into an unfamiliar household and it can achieve approximately 80% of tasks successfully through voice or text commands", Wang said at a robotics conference in Beijing. He added that such a milestone could trigger rapid growth across the entire industry.

Wang said that in an optimistic scenario, major advances in software could come within two to three years, while in a less favorable scenario, it could take five to 10 years. He noted that humanoid robots are not yet ready for mass deployment.

Unitree is the world's largest manufacturer of robotic dogs and, by shipment volume, the second-largest producer of humanoid robots.

China shipped more than 40,000 humanoid robots in the first half of the year, accounting for as much as 97% of global shipments, according to a Chinese industry association. Beijing also views robotization as a solution to the labor shortage caused by demographic decline.

(Reuters, est)