On 1 September, Shao Tianlan took Mech-Mind to the Hong Kong exchange. Nine days later, the chief executive of a robot firm worth HK$10.4 billion publicly accused Galbot, an embodied-AI star valued at RMB 20 billion, of fabricating “false and unsustainable” revenue through data centres and related-party deals with local governments, investors and suppliers. The twist: Galbot is also Mech-Mind’s customer, making the two an upstream-downstream pair.
Why fire now? Galbot is going public. Mech-Mind is blocking not just Galbot but the more than 40 embodied-AI firms queuing for Hong Kong IPOs. After Unitree listed, its shares fell more than 50 per cent in under a month, and Mech-Mind itself broke its issue price. That shattered confidence, and with dozens still waiting, the available chips only grow. From mid-2026 the new listings enter lock-up expiry; if early names keep falling, secondary prices will press primary valuations down. Raise at RMB 20 billion today and in six months RMB 10 billion may find no taker. The next six months are the last listing window.
A supplier just reported its own customer. Galbot has secretly filed a Hong Kong IPO, and almost every top embodied-AI name is at the door: Unitree, Galbot, AgiBot, Star Era, Zhipingfang and Zizhi. Once public, the rule changes from “tell stories together” to “who lists first gets the money”. On 9 September Reuters reported Chinese regulators raising the humanoid-robot IPO bar, demanding recurring revenue, narrowing losses and real innovation. The A-share route narrows, leaving Hong Kong the realistic exit, but Hong Kong is rough too: SEER fell about 21 per cent and Mech-Mind about 6 per cent versus issue despite 5,935-times and 3,800-times retail oversubscription.
Investors doubt the model because, in visible time, it barely runs. Even the most “successful” Unitree still puts 74 per cent of humanoids in research and education; real factory work has barely started, while corporate tours and showroom talks make up 50 to 70 per cent of demand. Mech-Mind’s revenue rose from RMB 181 million to RMB 389 million from 2023 to 2025, a 46.6 per cent compound rate, with gross margin climbing from 39.1 to 64.6 per cent, yet profit and cash tell a harder story.
Editor’s note: This is an adapted translation of the original OFweek Robot report. It has been trimmed and restructured for readability for an international business audience.
Translated and adapted from OFweek Robot (https://robot.ofweek.com/2026-09/ART-898890-12003-30703081.html).