World models take the stage at WAIC World-model fever reached WAIC 2026, where forums, booths and launches treated it as the soul of the event, because the year of embodied deployment demands a model that understands the physical world. On 19 July, Kunlun Wanwei’s forum answered the plain technical question: how does a world model … Read more
100,000 units, or a fivefold leap Halfway through 2026, the humanoid industry turned in a glossy scorecard. At July’s WAIC press conference, MIIT vice-minister Gan Xiaobin said full-year output could exceed 100,000 units. From about 20,000 in 2025 to 100,000 is a fivefold jump any sector would envy. Fellow vice-minister Ke Jixin called it a … Read more
A list that caught a vacuum On 28 July, the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC) updated its Covered List with two new categories: foreign-made advanced robot devices (including humanoids, quadrupeds and other mobile robots) and networked power inverters. No company is named, but the definition lands squarely on China’s most exportable robot categories. The telling … Read more
A short tenure ends Gasgoo Embodied Intelligence learned that Ding Yan, co-CTO of Luming Robot, has formally left. His social profile now reads researcher at Fudan University’s Zuquan Institute, confirming the career turn. From joining in November 2025 to leaving, his time at Luming was under 280 days. Ding Yan, a pioneer of the UMI … Read more
Japan is the first stop Gasgoo Embodied Intelligence learned that Vbot (Wei Ta Dong Li) has formally begun its global layout, with Japan as the first overseas market. Vbot signed a strategic cooperation deal with Japanese robot solutions provider Future Robotics to expand the Japan market over three years, with an initial order of 1 … Read more
The IPO that finally surfaced AgiBot (Zhiyuan Innovation), the humanoid star that repeatedly denied Hong Kong IPO rumours, finally confirmed in late July that it had started the listing process. Good news followed: its self-developed WITA-Omni Preview model topped Qwen, Gemini, Doubao and Nvidia with an 85.21 score, and it launched the world’s first robot … Read more
The 60.13 percent question On 6 August, Unitree set its issue price at 150.80 yuan per share, dropping book-building. The prospectus shows 40.45 million new shares, 10 percent of the post-issue total, raising about 4.20 billion yuan at a 42 billion yuan valuation. Post-issue, Unitree (688836.SH) is worth about 61 billion yuan at a stunning … Read more
A second act, from cars to bodies On 29 July, reports said Li Auto was planning two-wheeled and bipedal robots, and its shares rose 10 percent that day. XPeng’s own share rallies have likewise tracked robot news. The pattern shows a shift in the underlying story: the three newcomers, NIO, XPeng and Li Auto (collectively … Read more
A state giant tests the exit window Shanghai United Assets and Equity Exchange recently disclosed a listing: CNPC Kunlun Capital is offering 0.6349 percent of Shandong Future Robot, or 234,372 shares, at a floor price of 20 million yuan. As a pure state-industrial investor, Kunlun’s ties to the company run deep. In May 2025, CNPC … Read more
Unitree prices its IPO above expectations On 6 August, Unitree Technology fixed its IPO issue price at 150.80 yuan per share. On a post-issue share count, that implies a market value of about 60.99 billion yuan, comfortably above the 42 billion yuan valuation the market had broadly expected. As founder, Wang Xingxing held 23.82 percent … Read more