Nvidia picks Unitree for humanoid robot platform as Chinese startup eyes IPO - CNBC
## Unitree's global market The news comes as Unitree seeks to raise 4.2 billion yuan ($620 million) through a listing on Shanghai's STAR board. The exchange is scheduled to review the IPO application on Monday.
Key takeaways
Figure AI has dramatically accelerated production of its third‑generation Figure 03 humanoid, moving from one robot per day to one per hour in just 120 days and reporting over 350 units built and an 80 % first‑pass yield, while its “System 0” controller now fuses visual and proprioceptive data to let robots navigate stairs and uneven terrain without real‑world fine‑tuning. NVIDIA unveiled the Isaac GR00T reference humanoid, built on a Unitree H2 Plus body, Sharpa five‑fingered hands and the Jetson Thor compute module, offering an open hardware and software stack for academic research. NVIDIA also partnered with Unitree to market a research‑focused humanoid platform that integrates the new Blackwell chip, with sales slated for later in 2026 and early adopters such as Stanford and ETH Zurich. At the Humanoids Summit in Tokyo (May 28 2026), Japanese and Chinese developers showcased advanced dexterous hands capable of threading needles, child‑like dancing robots, and adult‑size delivery bots, highlighting China’s rapid progress with companies like Booster Robotics, LimX Dynamics and Unitree supplying many of the showcased mechanisms. Meanwhile, industry leaders such as BMW, Toyota, Hyundai and Boston Dynamics are testing or deploying humanoid robots—including Agility Robotics’ Digit and Boston Dynamics’ Atlas—in automotive factories, emphasizing fleet‑management tools, OTA updates and fault‑diagnostics to integrate robots alongside human workers.
Unitree's global market
The news comes as Unitree seeks to raise 4.2 billion yuan ($620 million) through a listing on Shanghai's STAR board. The exchange is scheduled to review the IPO application on Monday.
Unitree disclosed more than 40% of its revenue already comes from markets outside China.
The H2 Plus, an upgraded version of Unitree's H2 humanoid robot, will be available in October, and "anyone can buy it," said Rev Lebaredian, vice president of physical AI simulation at Nvidia.
It's a move "taking frontier humanoid research out of the hands of only the world's largest tech companies and AI unicorns, and putting it in reach of every lab," he said.
At least four research institutions already plan to use the H2 Plus humanoid, the press release said. WATCH LIVE
Key Points
Nvidia is working with Chinese startup Unitree for a research-focused humanoid robotics system. The robot comes with Nvidia's Blackwell chip inside a Unitree humanoid body. Sales, primarily to research institutions, are set to start later this year.
Unitree Robotics humanoids dance on May 31, 2026, in Shanghai, for the opening of Asia's first embodied intelligence experience store.
Jade Gao | Afp | Getty Images
Nvidia has selected Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree for the first robotics system the U.S. chipmaker is selling to researchers from Stanford to ETH Zurich, the company announced Monday. "Today, we're announcing the Nvidia Isaac Root, a reference humanoid robot, all fully integrated, 25 degrees of freedom on that on each hand made by Sharpa, 31 degrees of freedom on the robot, six feet 150 pounds, just like me," Huang said Monday in a keynote speech in Taipei.
"This platform runs the new Thor, and our entire software stack, data generation stack, data simulation stack, the runtime, all integrated into a robot that is designed for everyone to use," he said.
"We built this for higher education and university researchers, because for them to build this is insanely hard to do."
The new system also expands Nvidia presence in robotics software development, building on the chipmaker's edge in AI computing through its widely used CUDA software platform.
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