Robot alpha: Unitree rides physical AI as shares jump more than 60% 🤖

Shares of Chinese robot maker Unitree Robotics have jumped more than 60% since Oct. 15, lifting its market value to 271.8 billion yuan (roughly $40.8 billion) as investors bet that advances in chatbot AI can give robots the intelligence needed to operate in the physical world, a field called physical AI.

Unitree founder Wang Xingxing reinforced that thesis on Oct. 22 at the World Physical AI Conference in Hangzhou, the company’s first partner conference in a decade of operation. He said large models, the chatbot-style AI systems trained on vast amounts of data, could break through in physical AI within a few years. “If everything goes well, it will take one to two years, otherwise it will take two to three years,” Wang said.

Unitree shares hit the 20% daily limit on Friday, the most a stock may rise in one session, and closed at 624 yuan ($93.55). They rose another 7.69% on Monday to 672 yuan ($100.75). JPMorgan upgraded Unitree to overweight from underweight on Monday and raised its price target to 995 yuan ($149.17).

The bank had previously argued that Unitree leaned too heavily on hardware and was weak in software. JPMorgan changed its view after hearing from Wang and other executives and reviewing the humanoid lineup in Hangzhou. Unitree went public on Aug. 19 on the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s STAR Market, a tech-focused board. Its G1 humanoid costs roughly $16,000, cheaper than rival humanoids.

Researchers have flagged security flaws in Unitree’s robots, including audio, video and spatial data streaming to outside servers without users being notified, but the physical-AI premise has proven interesting enough to push its valuation up. Unitree already sells robots, while Tesla has only just started producing Optimus robots at its Fremont, California, factory and expects outside deliveries around the end of 2027. Figure AI partnered with OpenAI on its humanoids back in 2024, using OpenAI’s models to power its robots.