Chinese humanoid robot maker Unitree Robotics is preparing an initial public offering that would value the company at roughly $9 billion, according to a report from WION News circulated via Bing News and Google News.
The report describes the listing as a landmark deal backed by an unusual combination of investors: DeepSeek, the AI lab whose models drew global attention, Tencent, one of China's largest technology companies, and state investors.
One detail stands out in the reporting. WION describes Unitree as profitable — a rare claim in a robotics sector where most companies are still burning cash on research with little revenue to show. If accurate, that would separate Unitree from the many humanoid startups whose valuations rest entirely on future promise.
WION also frames the offering as a potential valuation benchmark for China's broader robotics industry, which the outlet characterizes as booming. In practice, that means other Chinese robotics companies raising money or planning their own listings would likely be measured against whatever price Unitree fetches.
Unitree is best known for building humanoid and quadruped robots, and its machines have circulated widely in videos demonstrating walking, balancing and acrobatic movement.
The available sources do not specify a listing venue, a timeline, or how much of the company would be sold, and the two items provided here trace back to the same underlying WION report — so the details should be treated as a single-source account until confirmed elsewhere.
Why it matters: if a humanoid robot company can go public at $9 billion while actually turning a profit, it signals that robots are shifting from research demos toward a real industry — and that China, with both AI labs and state money lining up behind it, intends to set the price.