Yushu bets on "dogs", Zhiyuan bets on "humans".

There are three critical moments in the development of traditional robots: technology implementation, mass production, and commercial delivery.

Many investors regard the second half of 2025 to the first half of next year as the window period for embodied intelligence, calling it the "moment of reckoning." The reason is that embodied intelligence has also reached the stage where mass production is approaching commercial delivery, evolving "from the stage of showing off with demos to the industrial closed-loop model."

The most intuitive change was seen at the recently concluded WAIC and the World Robot Conference. As soon as you entered, you could see the stage for humanoid robot skill competitions. They were placed in scenarios such as repair shops, snack streets, and cultural stations, and completed refined operations such as drumming, dragon dancing, calligraphy, making drinks, and repairs in turn.

The well - deserved stars here are Unitree Technology and Zhipu Robotics. The boxing shows of Unitree's combat robots were a huge hit at the venue, and there were even exciting human - robot battles. Zhipu, on the other hand, comprehensively showcased its robot family on a 300 - square - meter booth.

Beyond the excitement, the sales teams of the two companies were extremely active. They actively contacted potential buyers and even printed product brochures in both Chinese and English.

Unitree and Zhipu represent two current technological routes of embodied intelligence, namely hardware and software. Unitree started with quadruped robot dogs and later entered the field of humanoid robots. It excels in the flexibility of the feet and was the first to achieve cost reduction and commercialization. Zhipu adheres to the route of integrating hardware and software, implements scenarios with an ecological approach, and explores the B - end market.

Both capital and policies have entered the fray, quickly boosting the valuation of the entire embodied intelligence field. As time goes on, players such as automobile OEMs, Internet giants, and mobile phone manufacturers that intersect with the embodied intelligence field have also entered the market one after another.

The game is not over yet, and the market may be reshuffled at any time. Among Unitree and Zhipu, the two leading players in the field of embodied intelligence, who will be the first to succeed?

Capital Creates "Two Powerhouses"

Capital is undoubtedly the main driving force behind the growth of Unitree and Zhipu.

According to IT Juzi data, from 2024 to 2025, the primary market financing in the domestic robot field exploded. In the first half of this year, there were 286 financing events, an increase of 166 compared to the same period last year, with a year - on - year growth rate of 138%. It is estimated that the total financing amount of robot startups in the first half of the year reached 27 billion yuan. Among them, more than 26 domestic robot startups received financing of over hundreds of millions of yuan in the first half of the year.

Unitree was founded in 2016 and started financing relatively early. According to Qichacha, as of July 3rd this year, Unitree had a total of ten financing events. Generally speaking, the investors behind Unitree can be divided into three categories: venture capital institutions such as Sequoia Capital China, Source Code Capital, and Shunwei Capital; industrial capital such as China Mobile, Geely Automobile, Tencent, Ant Group, Alibaba, Meituan, and ByteDance; and government funds such as Shanghai Science and Technology Innovation Fund and Zhongguancun Science City Technology Investment.

Unitree's latest round of financing stopped at Series C, and it has started the listing guidance process. Currently, its valuation exceeds 12 billion yuan.

Zhipu, which is also aiming for an IPO, was founded later but has attracted capital at a faster pace. From 2023 to August 1st this year, Zhipu had quickly completed ten rounds of financing.

In the early days, Zhipu attracted capital institutions such as Hillhouse Capital and BlueRun Ventures with the star effect of Peng Zhihui, a "Genius Teenager from Huawei". In the middle and later stages of Series A +, industrial capital and government funds entered. There were automobile companies such as BYD and SAIC, as well as technology companies such as JD.com, Tencent, and TCL. In the latest round of financing, Zhipu introduced overseas capital, jointly led by LG Electronics and Mirae Asset, paving the way for the international market. Currently, Zhipu's valuation exceeds that of Unitree, at about 15 billion yuan.

On the embodied intelligence track, Unitree and Zhipu currently have their own advantages.

In terms of product launch progress, Unitree started with robot dogs in 2016, adhered to the hardware technology development route, and started commercialization earlier. Research data shows that Unitree's revenue last year was 300 million yuan, with a profit close to 100 million yuan. After deducting government subsidies, the net profit was in the tens of millions, achieving profitability. However, all of its revenue came from its robot dog products, with more than two - thirds from small dogs and less than one - third from large dogs.

Zhipu bet on the direction of humanoid robots from the start and only recently started to supplement its robot dog business. Unitree started investing in humanoid robots later than Zhipu. Zhipu has a stronger technological foundation, gathering backbones from Huawei and NIO. It has invested more in R & D than Unitree. Adhering to the integration of hardware and software and following the route of large - scale world models, it has launched a full - range of product lines and aims to build an ecosystem and achieve commercialization. Trying to achieve everything has led to slow market actions and sometimes wavering.

This year, Unitree and Zhipu were forced to compete head - on. There are two main reasons. Firstly, humanoid robots have more room for imagination than quadruped robots. Capital has bet on the humanoid robot track that can support the valuation, so the two companies will inevitably compete. Secondly, humanoid robots are being pushed by the market and have reached the commercialization stage. Comparisons of indicators such as shipment volume and order numbers are clear at a glance.

Entering the Same River

In June, a winning bid announcement brought the commercialization competition between Zhipu and Unitree's humanoid robots into the spotlight.

The tender announcement showed that China Mobile placed the largest domestic order for humanoid robots. The total budget for the procurement project was about 120 million yuan. Zhipu won the bid for the full - size humanoid robot package with 78 million yuan, while Unitree Technology won the package including small - size humanoid robots, computing power backpacks, and five - finger dexterous hands with 46.05 million yuan.

As the common "golden master," China Mobile chose both Unitree and Zhipu. According to Wang Chuang, the president of Zhipu's general business department, the order will adopt a phased delivery mechanism. The first batch of dozens of robots will be placed in the exhibition halls and large business halls of China Mobile's provincial companies. Reception and greeting are one of the vertical scenarios where humanoid robots have been relatively successfully implemented.

For either company, the value of this order set a new record. The tender website shows that Unitree had nearly 25 winning bid announcements in the past year, with procurement amounts ranging from tens of thousands to millions of yuan. University laboratories and ordinary schools were the main buyers, with purchases made in batches or by quantity.

A salesperson from Unitree told us, "Universities are basically buying models without knowing exactly where they will be used." Unitree will follow up with some customers to explore the technological boundaries and accumulate data in some scenarios. For example, it cooperates with NIO to complete handling tasks in automobile factories.

However, robot manufacturers including Unitree are cautious about new function upgrades. Only when the tests are extremely stable and the task accuracy rate reaches a stable value will they be fully promoted. "Software function upgrades can cover all models."

Manufacturers such as Unitree and Zhipu have completed the entire manufacturing chain. "Differences in product details lead to the selection of different suppliers, but the manufacturing logic of robots is the same as that of automobiles. They are highly substitutable, and there is serious homogeneous competition. Therefore, it is difficult to build a competitive barrier. In the end, it still comes down to production volume and stability."

A professional told us that the underlying logic of automobiles and robots is the same, both requiring long - chain technologies such as environmental perception, task understanding, and planning control. The technologies also have the same origin. Currently, the technological route of intelligent assisted driving systems is gradually moving towards the VLA (Visual - Language - Action Large Model) + VLM (Visual - Language Model) architecture.

The technological homology and similar manufacturing logic have once made automobile manufacturers a talent base for embodied intelligence. In particular, NIO has become a "hard - hit area" for talent poaching. Before serving as the executive dean of Zhipu Research Institute, Yao Maoqing was the engineering director of NIO. The same is true for grass - roots employees. Someone revealed that there were 3 or 4 former NIO employees in the same group of a robot company.

From a scenario perspective, there are currently two paths in the industry. One is to directly develop general humanoid robots from the start, using high - end capabilities to penetrate into vertical scenarios. Representatives include Unitree and Zhipu. The other is to enter the market through a specific vertical field, accumulate high - quality data, and develop functions for vertical humanoid robots. Representatives include Stardust Intelligence and Independent Variable Robotics. Currently, some common scenarios for humanoid robots include housework, elderly care, factory handling, pharmacy guarding, and automobile manufacturing.

The two paths converge at this stage because the technology of the humanoid robot brain is still in development, and the industry has not yet reached a consensus on how to implement the world model. On the other hand, monetization is urgent. Even general humanoid robot companies need to achieve commercialization in scenarios.

An entrepreneur in the field of elderly care and medical robots told us that the implementation of robots is a complex issue. Even with advanced technology, real - world situations need to be considered.

"What range should the amplitude of helping the elderly be controlled within? How to distinguish the massage intensity for seriously ill and healthy elderly people? There are also privacy setting issues. Many boundary issues require unified standards."

"Xiaomi" vs. "Huawei"

Unitree and Zhipu have adopted different strategies in market development. By analogy with existing company strategies, Unitree is like Xiaomi, and Zhipu is like Huawei.

Unitree's overall strategy is to penetrate the users' minds. After a successful appearance on the Spring Festival Gala, it became well - known overnight. Offering low prices is Unitree's first card. Adhering to the principle of "following price cuts and making it hard for others to catch up," Unitree has become the "price butcher" on the embodied intelligence track.

Among non - full - size humanoid robots of the same type, the general price of competitors' products is between 80,000 and 100,000 yuan. In March this year, Songyan Power's N2 was the first to set the price at 39,900 yuan. In less than four months, Unitree's R1 immediately followed suit, also priced from 39,900 yuan, immediately creating a price alliance effect.

Unitree was able to cut prices in a short time. Firstly, technology and domestic substitution have become more mature. On the other hand, it learned from Xiaomi by sacrificing some high - end functions and not pursuing the ultimate experience like Apple to lower the price ceiling. From 650,000 yuan to 99,000 yuan and then to 39,000 yuan, there are significant differences in the structure, size, and performance of the humanoid robots, but it gives the impression that "everyone can afford one."

In terms of marketing, Unitree is a leader in this track. Just as Xiaomi has Lei Jun, Unitree has Wang Xingxing. The image of a founder who breaks the rules and is obsessed with robots is vivid and full. From rentals on Xianyu, evaluations by technology bloggers to the popularity at various venues, Unitree's robots are more like consumer products for the C - end, the "Xiaomi" in the robot world.

Zhipu has gone in the opposite direction. The founder team with a Huawei background gives it a strong Huawei flavor from its very core.

Zhipu's embodied intelligence map was clear from the start, that is, "hardware + software + ecosystem." The hardware is the robot body, the software is the interactive brain of the world model, and the ecosystem is an open embodied intelligence platform. In this regard, it can refer to the Huawei Cloud architecture. In terms of technological thinking, it refers to Huawei's full - stack self - research strategy. From the core components of humanoid robots, the supply chain to the customization of technical standards, Zhipu is pursuing greater independence.

Zhipu's ecological partner strategy is particularly prominent, aiming at B - end business implementation from the start.

It builds an ecological closed - loop for key industries. In the manufacturing field, it conducted the world's first live - streamed embodied intelligence logistics operation with Dematic Technology, completing the automated full - process of complex logistics tasks through multi - modal perception and real - time data feedback. It cooperated with Dongyangguang to establish the Opto - East Zhipu Embodied Intelligence Robot subsidiary to build a robot data collection center. Many companies in the upstream and downstream of the ecosystem have participated in Zhipu's investment, manufacturing, and delivery.

Zhipu Robotics has adopted a completely different product strategy from Unitree. It clearly regards international top - tier products such as Tesla's Optimus and Boston Dynamics' Atlas as its main competitors, rather than participating in the domestic price war at 39,900 yuan. In the later stage, it is likely to take the high - end market route and build a high - end brand image through technology.

The routes of Xiaomi and Huawei each have their own advantages and disadvantages. With strong brand awareness and low prices, Unitree was the first to achieve breakthroughs in sales and commercialization. Zhipu's technical team is highly favored by investors, and its valuation has soared.

The second half of the commercialization process has just begun, and the elimination round has just started.

This article is from the WeChat public account "guangzi0088" (ID: TMTweb), author: Hao Xin, editor: Wu Xianzhi, published by 36Kr with authorization.