ZhiYuan Robotics Responds to Reports of Bidding 60 Million Yuan to Compete with Unitree for Spring Festival Gala Sponsorship Spot

On December 10th, according to 36Kr, a group of embodied intelligence companies are competing for the sponsorship qualification of the 2026 CCTV Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Horse. Currently, the competition between Zhipu and Unitree is the most intense. To compete for the rights and interests of the largest sponsor, Zhipu Robotics offered 60 million yuan first, while Unitree Technology directly raised the bid to 100 million yuan.

In response, Jiemian News verified the information with Zhipu Robotics, and the other side responded that "it's not true." Unitree has not made a public statement yet.

Looking at the sponsorship pattern of the Spring Festival Gala in the past three years, the leading sponsors have always been highly consistent with the industrial hotspots of the era. In 2023 and 2024, Moutai was one of the core liquor sponsors, occupying important seats together with brands such as Wuliangye and Yanghe. The 2025 Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Snake saw a gathering of Internet companies. Alibaba returned after a seven - year absence to become the exclusive e - commerce interactive platform. Platforms such as Douyin, Bilibili, and Xiaohongshu participated in the sponsorship in various forms. The number of sponsors reached 18, covering five major categories. The rumor that embodied intelligence companies are competing for sponsorship this time is considered a signal of the rise of the technology industry.

In fact, the robot products of Unitree Technology have appeared on the Spring Festival Gala stage many times. In 2021, 24 quadruped robots of Unitree Technology, codenamed "Benben", completed the first dynamic walking cluster dance performance of quadruped robots in the song and dance program "Get Moving" at the Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Ox. These robots were designed based on the prototype of calves and interacted remotely with artists such as Andy Lau, Wang Yibo, and Guan Xiaotong.

At the 2025 Spring Festival Gala in the Year of the Snake, 16 humanoid robots H1 "Fuxi" of Unitree Technology danced the Yangge dance with the dancers from the Xinjiang Arts Institute in the creative fusion dance "Yangge BOT" directed by Zhang Yimou and completed actions such as throwing handkerchiefs. This performance also became the most - watched technological highlight of this year's Spring Festival Gala.

Currently, both Unitree Technology and Zhipu Robotics are in a period of rapid development. In July this year, Unitree Technology signed a counseling agreement with CITIC Securities and officially launched the IPO counseling work. At the end of November, the IPO counseling status of Unitree Technology was updated to "counseling work completed", which means that Unitree Technology has met the pre - conditions for IPO application. If it can be successfully listed, the company is expected to become the "first stock of humanoid robots".

In November, Zhipu Robotics just completed a tender offer for Shangwei New Materials, holding 240 million shares of Shangwei New Materials, accounting for 58.6232% of the total share capital. Its persons acting in concert hold a total of 260 million shares of Shangwei New Materials, accounting for 63.6232% of the total share capital.

On December 8th, Peng Zhihui, the co - founder, president, and CTO of Zhipu Robotics, disclosed the cumulative offline data of the company's three major product lines: among the 5,000 mass - produced and delivered general embodied robots, there are 1,846 units of the Lingxi X1/X2 series, 1,742 units of the Yuanzheng A1/A2 series, and 1,412 units of the Jingling G1/G2 series.

Regarding the future development of humanoid robots, Wang Xingxing, the founder of Unitree Technology, said at the 2025 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit that last year, a humanoid robot that could walk well was considered excellent. But this year, especially in the past few months, many robots can dance or perform well. The reason is the joint efforts around the world to promote the development of this industry. In his view, AI has accelerated the development speed of the entire robot industry. Compared with more advanced technologies such as nuclear fusion, the realization of embodied intelligence may be relatively easier. He believes that there will be more surprises in the robot industry next year and the year after.

This article is from the WeChat public account "Jiemian News", author: Song Jianan, published by 36Kr with authorization.