Humanoid robots pitched to DHS for southern border surveillance | Fox News
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! Humanoid robots capable of autonomously navigating rugged terrain and detecting people could eventually join federal agents patrolling the southern border, with one U.S.
Key takeaways
- Unitree Robotics, one of China’s leading humanoid‑robot makers, has taken center stage in the latest wave of robotic breakthroughs.
- In mid‑August the company unveiled a new “Superman” humanoid that can leap two metres vertically and sprint at 12.66 metres per second—speeds that exceed the world‑record high‑jump and sprint performances of elite athletes such as Usain Bolt.
- The robot was demonstrated at the 2026 World Robot Conference in Beijing, where its back‑flipping and kung‑fu moves also drew headlines.
- On the same week Unitree completed a blockbuster IPO on Shanghai’s STAR market, with its shares soaring more than 460 % above the offer price and briefly spiking as much as 629 %, underscoring intense investor enthusiasm for Chinese embodied‑AI.
- Despite the rapid hardware advances, Unitree’s founder Wang Xingxing cautioned that a “ChatGPT moment” for humanoid robots—when they can reliably generalise across tasks and execute precise movements through conversational AI—may still be up to ten years away.
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NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Humanoid robots capable of autonomously navigating rugged terrain and detecting people could eventually join federal agents patrolling the southern border, with one U.S. robotics company telling Fox News Digital it has already demonstrated the technology to Department of Homeland Security officials.
Sankaet Pathak, founder and CEO of Foundation, spoke with Fox News Digital to discuss the company's development of humanoid robotics and their potential applications at the border.
Pathak said Foundation is in talks with several national security agencies. "We're in conversations with almost all national security government bodies, so Air Force, Navy, Army, DHS," Pathak said. "We continue to have dialogues. We're starting to negotiate contracts and some applications for them."
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Photos of Sankaet Pathak, CEO and Founder of Foundation.
Foundation CEO Sankaet Pathak says the company’s Phantom humanoid robot could patrol rugged terrain and flag potential border crossings for federal agents. (Foundation)
A DHS spokesperson told Fox News Digital that no formal arrangement is currently in place.
"The Department of Homeland Security currently does not have any non-contractual agreements, pilots, or active prime contracts with Foundation."
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