Elon Musk ‘laughed until he cried’ when Unitree G1 kicked people

On December 27, Wes Morrill, chief engineer of Tesla Cybertruck, posted a video recording the Unitree G1 practicing combat – part of the process of testing the simulated motion of this humanoid robot. The video was later shared by Musk. According to Global Timesthe image originally appeared on the Chinese platform Bilibili on December 25.

In it, G1 followed the coach’s instructions, but accidentally kicked this person in a “sensitive” place. Immediately after that, when the coach bent down because it was too painful, the robot did the same thing. This may be why Musk finds it funny.

“Should we rely on science fiction ideas from the past to build a realistic world?” Morrill asked. “Testing humanoid robots will be an interesting challenge.”

According to Morrill, in the past, robots were often limited to “forbidden areas” such as retaining walls or laser fences. “This is an easy way to ensure humans are not injured by powerful machines. But the more humanoid robots play a role in humans, the more we need to remove those barriers,” Morrill wrote.

Regarding the issue of G1 “attacking” the trainer in the video, on December 28, Unitree said that the “combat” exercise was a “secondary developed program by the buyer”, and the company only provided the hardware. On Bilibili, the account posting the video also explained the problem that G1 had related to technical latency when training, adding that the latency can gradually decrease when improving the algorithm, possibly reaching as low as 0.1 seconds.

On December 20, Elon Musk also shared a video recording 6 G1 humanoid robots from Unitree Robotics performing at Wang Leehom’s concert in Chengdu (China) with dance and acrobatic movements. “Impressive,” the American billionaire commented.

Theo TechNode At that time, it was rare for Musk to praise G1, because this is one of the biggest competitors to Optimus, the humanoid robot being developed by Tesla. This may also be the billionaire’s rare acknowledgment of China’s humanoid robot achievements.

Unitree G1 launches in May 2024. The machine is 1.3 meters high, weighs 35 kg, and has the ability to move flexibly thanks to 23-43 articulated motors. Over the past time, this humanoid robot has continuously impressed with many abilities, such as dancing, acrobatics, playing sports or appearing with a natural gait on the street.

Unitree Robotics was born in 2016 in Hangzhou, China, specializing in developing four-legged robots and humanoid robots. The products are used in transportation, surveillance, scientific research and entertainment. Unitree builds a rapid commercialization strategy, bringing robots to market at diverse accessible prices. The company is currently considered one of the leading units in Asia in service robots and AI application robots.