Unitree's robot's "hit-and-run" incident has gone viral overseas. Wang Xingxing responded: I won't control it remotely next time.

Wow, the news about Unitree Robotics' robot "hitting and running" has become such a hot topic even abroad!

The video clips are going viral on YouTube, Reddit, and X. There are even different versions from various angles, attracting global attention.

People are very worried that another human has been injured by a robot.

It didn't even stop to check if the human was okay. So typical.

This has violated Asimov's First Law of Robotics: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Otherwise, it will be "destroyed" immediately.

However, yesterday, after hitting a person, Unitree's robot won the first place in the 1500 - meter race and claimed the first gold medal in the first Humanoid Robot Sports Games.

Is this really okay?

Amid the discussions, this "accident" has been repeatedly analyzed, and it seems that the robot isn't entirely to blame.

Actually, the problem lies with humans

Yesterday, Unitree's robot finished the 1500 - meter race in 6 minutes and 34 seconds (the human world record is 3 minutes and 26 seconds), winning the first gold medal in this Humanoid Robot Sports Games and setting a new world record.

Moreover, during the race, when it was about to lap the opponent, it suddenly slowed down and started spinning around the track, showing off.

Of course, the most talked - about event is the widely discussed "hitting and running" incident.

However, as more detailed investigations were conducted, the "culprit" of this incident began to surface - it's very likely that humans caused Unitree's robot to hit the person.

Right before the collision, it was the moment when two human operators were handing over the remote control. They didn't notice the person in front during the hand - over process and failed to issue an evasion command in time.

Some netizens joked that this must be a strategy to defeat the opponents.

After all, high - end business competition often only requires the simplest methods.

But to be honest, why do robots need to be remotely controlled during a running race?

As for the specific reasons, on the one hand, it's about the robot's own stability, mainly due to dynamic balance issues. Running is a highly unstable form of movement, and robots must adjust their body postures within a very short time. However, the reaction speed and accuracy of existing sensors, algorithms, and actuators are not sufficient to handle various complex terrains stably. Manual remote control can provide timely intervention when the robot is about to lose balance. For example, another robot, Unitree G1, was used by a third - party to participate in a robot half - marathon in April this year and fell during the race.

On the other hand, it's due to insufficient environmental perception. Although sensors can provide environmental information, during fast running, this perception data often has delays or insufficient accuracy, making it difficult for robots to make quick judgments like humans. Manual remote control can make up for the lack of robots' autonomous perception. This incident, where the robot hit a person just after a short period of being out of remote control, just proves this point.

Of course, it should be clear that robots are not completely unable to move autonomously without remote control. For example, the runner - up in this 1500 - meter race, the Tiangong Ultra robot developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, ran without remote control.

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Even the "culprit" Unitree H1 (the same model that performed the yangge dance on this year's Spring Festival Gala) actually has a certain ability to move autonomously without remote control.

H1 is Unitree's first general - purpose humanoid robot, born in August 2023.

It is 1.8 meters tall, weighs 47 kilograms, has an M107 motor with a torque of 360 N·m, 5 and 4 degrees of freedom for each leg and arm respectively, and is equipped with a 3D lidar and a depth camera for perception.

H1's moving speed is 3.3 meters per second, with a potential performance of more than 5 meters per second (18 kilometers per hour). Its average speed in this race was 3.8 meters per second.

In addition, regarding the issue of whether robots need remote control during movement, it is also related to specific sports events.

Some events currently aim to showcase the robots' movement abilities. For example, in the free combat event, humans also operate the robots to punch and kick.

This event tests whether the robot's center of gravity is reasonable and whether it can stay standing after being hit hard by the opponent. It involves the design of hardware components such as the robot's leg motors and joints.

Human control also allows for more flexible and rapid offensive and defensive actions, which can test the robot's hardware performance under intense confrontation.

However, in the football game event, robots complete the game autonomously. This event may aim to test the robots' strategic judgment and cooperation abilities.

It can be seen that the robots' kicking range and flexibility are quite limited, and they often fall.

However, when to kick, when to defend, how to distinguish teammates from opponents, and how to use tactics with teammates are all decisions made autonomously by the robots.

Moreover, during the game, robots can regain their form like humans. The algorithm remains the same, but they can perform better in the second half than in the first half.

It seems that the events in the Humanoid Robot Sports Games mainly test their single - item abilities, either their "brains" or their "limbs".

Don't be discouraged. The development speed of humanoid robots far exceeds our imagination. Just yesterday, Wang Xingxing, the founder and CEO of Unitree, said in an interview that in the next competition, the robot contestants will run autonomously.

Wang Xingxing: There are always more discussions when robots make mistakes

Yesterday at the sports games, Wang Xingxing watched his company's robots compete.

Regarding winning the gold medal, he said it was completely expected. This wasn't the best result of Unitree H1, and it didn't reach the maximum speed of 5 meters per second.

This good result also relieved him: In the past few months, we've been "attacked" online so much that we couldn't stand it anymore.

He also revealed that Unitree's robots will make more breakthroughs in the second half of this year and next year.

Regarding using remote control, Wang Xingxing responded that Unitree H1 actually has the ability to operate without a remote control. However, due to different strategies, in order to pursue speed, Unitree still used the remote - control strategy in the competition.

Of course, this approach also has drawbacks. "It's quite exhausting for colleagues." The operators will be severely exhausted from running alongside the robots. So we saw that the operators on - site needed to take turns to accompany the robots to complete the race.

In the next competition, our robots will definitely run autonomously. It's not difficult.

Next year, we will definitely participate in the Beijing Yizhuang Half - Marathon and the Humanoid Robot Half - Marathon.

Earlier, Wang Xingxing also talked about the public's particular concern about robots "causing trouble" in an interview.

Currently, there isn't much attention when robots walk or run normally. But if a robot has a problem due to operation or some other reason, there will be a huge amount of discussion.

I think everyone should have a more open attitude towards new technologies and products. For every industry, there are ups and downs. I think everyone, including myself, should more openly accept these fluctuations and have greater confidence in and support for its future.

Reference links: [1]https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1mqywla/move_or_get_moved_unitree_h1/[2]https://www.reddit.com/r/singularity/comments/1mr4h4t/fuckin_clankers/[3]https://finance.sina.cn/stock/jdts/2025-08-15/detail-infmapwz2739811.d.html?vt=4&cid=76993&node_id=76993

This article is from the WeChat official account "QbitAI". The author focuses on cutting - edge technology. 36Kr has obtained authorization to publish it.