Wang Xingxing

Wang Xingxing is the founder, CEO, and CTO of Unitree Robotics, a Hangzhou-based company recognized for its development of quadrupedal and humanoid robots. Wang enrolled at Zhejiang Sci-Tech University, majoring in mechatronics engineering, and as a first-year student, built his first small bipedal robot using approximately ¥200 worth of parts and hand-crafted components. During his master's degree, he developed "XDog," a high-performance quadruped robot driven by a low-cost external rotor brushless motor, advancing the technology of affordable, high-performance footed robots. Wang holds a master's in mechanical engineering from Shanghai University.

After completing his master's program, Wang joined DJI, a leader in civilian autonomous drones, as an engineer. When "XDog" gained significant attention in media and technology circles, he declined offers to sell the project and left DJI to found Yushu Technology, known internationally as Unitree Robotics, at age 26. In its early years, the company faced financial challenges but began generating revenue and attracting investment as its robotics technology gained traction. Unitree Robotics has since secured clients such as NVIDIA and Google and has maintained profitability.

Unitree Robotics became the first company to publicly retail high-performance quadruped robots, leading global sales and advancing the commercialization of quadruped robotics. The company claims to control two-thirds of the market share for robot dogs and to have the bestselling humanoid robot worldwide, with half of its sales coming from international markets. The product lineup has expanded to include humanoid robots, with launches such as the "H1" and "G1," which are mass-produced and priced around $16,000. The "H1" humanoid set a world-record running speed of 3.3 meters per second and became the first full-sized electric biped to perform a standing backflip.

Unitree Robotics' robots have appeared at major events, including CES, Nvidia GTC, the World Robot Conference in Beijing, and the Olympics. During the CCTV Spring Festival Gala, Unitree robots equipped with advanced voice recognition and sentiment AI performed a folk dance alongside human dancers, marking what the company described as the first performance by AI-powered, fully automated, large-scale humanoid robots.

Wang has delivered speeches at the ICRA Footed Robot Forum, a leading international robotics conference, and has applied for more than 150 domestic and foreign patents. He was the only entrepreneur of his generation invited to a high-profile symposium of business leaders chaired by President Xi Jinping, seated near technology leaders such as Huawei's Ren Zhengfei. Wang describes Unitree Robotics as a hardware company at its core and believes that advancements in artificial intelligence will enable robots to perform more tasks autonomously. Named to TIME's 100 Most Influential People in AI, Wang continues to advance the field of robotics, focusing on the development of affordable, intelligent robots for use in households, industrial settings, and agriculture.