Unitree Founder Wang Xingxing Is China’s A.I. Rising Star Taking on Boston Dynamics
On the eve of the Lunar New Year earlier this month, millions of families across China tuned into the Spring Festival Gala, a long-running state-run variety show that this year delivered what once would have seemed like science fiction: Humanoid robots flipped and spun across the stage, performing synchronized martial arts routines with crisp precision. Four-legged robotic “dogs” trotted beside human dancers, moving so fluidly they seemed less like props and more like cast members. The machines were made by Hangzhou-based startup Unitree Robotics, founded and led by Wang Xingxing, a rising star on the global A.I. stage.
Wang, 35, is not yet a household name outside China. But in robotics circles, he has quietly built one of the most closely watched companies in the country. An engineer by training, Wang began developing quadruped robots while pursuing a master’s degree in mechanical engineering at Shanghai University. His graduate-school prototype, called XDog, stood out for being highly capable yet affordable.
After a brief two-month stint at drone giant DJI in 2016, Wang founded Unitree in a modest 50-square-meter office in Hangzhou, home to Chinese tech giant Alibaba. He launched the company with about $12,000 in prize money from a robotics competition and roughly $300,000 in angel funding from Yin Fangming, co-president of educational robotics firm Roobo, who took notice after XDog went viral online.
Wang is known for his relentless focus on cost engineering. In legged robots, motors and actuators account for a large share of manufacturing expenses. Unitree invested heavily in building high-performance electric actuators that could be produced cheaply at scale. The goal was to mass-produce legged robots the way consumer electronics companies mass-produce smartphones.
Wang is deeply hands-on. He serves as both CEO and chief technologist, overseeing all major engineering decisions. Unitree first gained international attention with consumer-oriented robotic dogs such as the Go1 and later the Go2, machines capable of navigating uneven terrain, running alongside humans and carrying sensors or small payloads.
Building the world’s most affordable legged robots
Price is the company’s defining advantage. U.S.-based Boston Dynamics, long considered the gold standard in legged robotics, sells its Spot quadruped for about $74,500. Unitree’s comparable Go2 starts at roughly $1,600. Its industrial-grade B2 comes in around $25,000. Even the G1 humanoid is priced near $16,000, dramatically below the six-figure price tags often associated with advanced humanoid systems.
The contrast reflects fundamentally different philosophies. Boston Dynamics has focused on high-end industrial and enterprise deployments in scenarios like construction sites, energy facilities and logistics centers. Unitree, by comparison, treats legged robots as computing platforms—physical embodiments of A.I. that should be widely accessible.
Wang has been aggressive about releasing new models and pushing them into global markets, even when the use cases are still emerging. The robots themselves often function as marketing, appearing in viral videos that showcase backflips, parkour-style maneuvers and tightly choreographed performances.
At India’s AI Impact Summit in New Delhi last week, a Unitree Go2 robotic dog drew crowds during a live demonstration at a university exhibition booth. The machine was briefly presented under a different name, prompting social media users to identify it as Unitree’s commercially available model manufactured in China. Organizers later shut down the booth. The episode underscored just how recognizable Unitree’s products have become.
Meanwhile, back in Hangzhou, the company has been scaling quickly. Unitree now employs roughly 500 people and, in early 2025, opened a 10,000-square-meter factory near its headquarters.
China’s dense supply chains and component ecosystems allow robotics startups to prototype and ramp production at a speed that would be difficult elsewhere. Government policy has amplified that advantage. National initiatives such as Made in China 2025 and successive robotics five-year plans prioritize domestic robot development and deployment. Subsidies, tax incentives and state-backed funding have accelerated the transition from lab prototype to factory floor.