Nvidia has selected Chinese robotics company Unitree as a key partner for its first publicly available humanoid robot.

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready…

Nvidia has selected Chinese robotics company Unitree as a key partner for its first publicly available humanoid robot research platform, a move that highlights Unitree’s growing influence in the global robotics industry as the company pursues an initial public offering (IPO).  

The new platform combines:

• Unitree’s H2 humanoid robot
• Nvidia’s Jetson Thor computing hardware
• The Isaac GR00T robotics AI platform
• Dexterous robotic hands supplied by Singapore-based Sharpa  

According to Nvidia, the goal is to create a standardized humanoid robot system for universities and research institutions, including organizations such as Stanford University and the University of California San Diego.  

Why Unitree was chosen

Unitree has become one of the fastest-growing humanoid robotics companies in the world. The Hangzhou-based startup is known for producing both quadruped robot dogs and humanoid robots at relatively low prices compared with many Western rivals.  

Its humanoid lineup includes:

• H2
• G1
• H1/H1-2
• R1 humanoid robots  

The company reportedly became the world’s largest seller of humanoid robots in 2025 and filed for a Shanghai Stock Exchange IPO seeking about 4.2 billion yuan ($610 million) to expand research and manufacturing capacity.  

Security and political concerns

Nvidia said software updates for the robots will pass through Nvidia chips, allowing security verification and protections such as secure boot and confidential computing.  

The partnership comes as some U.S. lawmakers have raised concerns about Chinese robotics firms, including Unitree, and proposed restrictions on their use in federally funded research projects. Nvidia says it is also working to establish similar partnerships with robot makers in the U.S., Europe, and South Korea.  

Why it matters

The collaboration shows how quickly the humanoid robot industry is advancing. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang has repeatedly described robotics and “physical AI” as a potentially multi-trillion-dollar market, and Unitree is emerging as one of the companies positioned to benefit from that growth.