When dozens of robots danced in perfect synchrony on China’s most-watched TV show in January, it was a star turn for their maker, Unitree Robotics. But founder and CEO Wang Xingxing sees less flashy, more useful possibilities on the horizon. "Our hope is that robots will truly help people in all aspects of life—whether in households, industrial scenarios, or agricultural environments,” he tells TIME.
Unitree claims to control two-thirds of the market share for robot dogs and have the bestselling humanoid on the globe. Its affordable and durable bots have made them popular among roboticists outside China, with 50% of the company's sales coming from abroad. “The fewer parts a product has and the simpler its structure, the easier it is to produce, and the stronger and more durable it will be,” Xingxing says. His focus on simplicity, he adds, was forged when, as a first-year university student, he built his first robot on a shoestring budget.
While Xingxing says Unitree is a hardware company at its core, he believes progress in AI will allow robots to tackle more tasks without preprogramming, such as cleaning a room they have never seen before. “To truly put AI to work and help solve real-world problems for humanity, we need robotics,” he says. “That’s why I believe AI and robotics are inseparable.”