Giving AI A Body: Why Robots Are Evolving So Quickly Today - Forbes
Sankaet Pathak, the CEO of humanoid robot company Foundation, told me that 18 months after founding, the company has a humanoid robot prototype, and not just a basic one.
Key takeaways
The most recent headlines show a surge of commercial roll‑outs and high‑profile demonstrations across the humanoid‑robot sector. On 8 December 2025, Chinese robotics firm AGIBOT announced the official launch of its 5,000th mass‑produced humanoid robot, emphasizing a push toward large‑scale manufacturing and broader industrial deployment. In the same week, EngineAI released dramatic footage of its T800 full‑scale humanoid delivering a powerful kick to the company’s CEO, a stunt that serves to promote an upcoming “Robot Boxer” event slated for 24 December. Meanwhile, Unitree has continued to publicize its larger H2 humanoid, now shown in combat‑style videos where it punches, kicks and breaks parts of its smaller G1 sibling, reinforcing the company’s reputation for agile, teleoperated fighters. Earlier in 2025, Ubtech unveiled the Walker S2 generation, featuring an autonomous battery‑swap system that enables continuous operation in smart‑factory settings, and Deep Robotics introduced the DR02, the first all‑weather humanoid with IP66 protection aimed at outdoor security, logistics and hazardous‑site inspection. In parallel, Figure’s CEO has teased a short clip of the Figure 03 robot running at speeds far exceeding the typical three‑to‑four mph range of current models, echoing a Forbes report that noted a 40 % drop in humanoid‑robot manufacturing costs this year, bringing unit prices down to roughly $30,000‑$150,000. Together, these developments illustrate a rapid transition from laboratory prototypes to mass‑produced, high‑performance platforms that are entering both industrial workflows and public demonstrations.
Sankaet Pathak, the CEO of humanoid robot company Foundation, told me that 18 months after founding, the company has a humanoid robot prototype, and not just a basic one. I’ve heard similar stories from Apptronik, and of course Figure, which makes the robot that looks to be running and moving smoother and faster than any other right now, started just over two years ago.
Putting humanoid robots into spaces with humans is still a challenging problem though, not least because of safety concerns. A few short months ago, almost every robot made by the hundreds of companies working on humanoid robots could charitably be described as slow, topping out at around three mph. Walking was on the edge of plodding, and arm movements bordered on sluggish and awkward. But just this weekend, we saw a robot running quickly, gracefully, and smoothly.
That’s one clear signal that robots – and other machines that are getting eyesight and intelligence – are evolving quicker now than ever before. For a full humanoid, costs have dropped 40%, says Goldman Sachs Research. That’s unexpectedly fast.
“The manufacturing cost of humanoid robots has dropped — from a range that ran between an estimated $50,000 (for lower-end models) and $250,000 (for state-of-the art versions) per unit last year, to a range of between $30,000 and $150,000 now. Where our analysts had expected a decline of 15-20% per annum, the cost declined 40%.”
Mentioned in this article