China's Unitree says 'GPT moment' for robots remains years away

Global Digital Summit 2026Humanoid leader to put almost half of IPO proceeds into embodied AI researchAI has to improve its ability to control hardware such as robots, according to Unitree Robotics, due to there being more variables needing to be processed for operation in different environments. (Photo by Yuki Kohara)TSUBASA SURUGAJuly 22, 2026 13:48 JSTTOKYO -- The robotics industry may still be two to five years away from a "GPT moment" comparable with ChatGPT's breakthrough in generative artificial intelligence, a senior executive at one of the leading Chinese humanoid makers said on Wednesday.