Unitree G1

Unitree G1 is a compact bipedal humanoid robot developed by Hangzhou-based Unitree Robotics and unveiled in May 2024 at the ICRA conference in Yokohama, Japan. Standing approximately 127 cm tall and weighing around 35 kg, it is notably smaller and lighter than its sibling the H1, and significantly more affordable — with a base configuration starting at US$16,000 compared to the H1's ~$90,000 price point.

The G1 is designed primarily as a research, education, and development platform. Its hardware scales across multiple configurations: the base model has 23 degrees of freedom, while the G1 EDU tiers extend this to 43 DoF with optional dexterous three-finger hands, additional waist joints, and expanded developer tooling. Mass production began in August 2024, and Unitree shipped over 5,500 G1 units during 2025 alone, making it one of the best-selling humanoid robot platforms of that year by unit volume.

The platform gained broader public attention when G1 units performed yangge dance routines at the 2025 Chinese New Year Spring Festival Gala, and again in February 2026 when a G1 completed a 130,000-step outdoor walk in Altay, Xinjiang at temperatures as low as −47.4 °C, tracing an Olympic emblem using Beidou satellite positioning. In April 2026, G1 units were deployed at Tokyo Haneda Airport for baggage-handling tasks in a partnership with Japan Airlines.