Unitree's G1 robot is becoming the internet's top influencer
Wired's Made in China newsletter profiles a wave of humanoid robots that have become social media stars, all built on the same chassis: the Unitree G1, a roughly 4-foot-tall, 40-kilogram humanoid made by the Chinese robotics company Unitree. In Poland, software developer Bartosz Idzik and his friend Radoslaw Grzelaczyk bought a G1 six months before publication and named it Edward Warchocki, after Grzelaczyk's dog Eddie and the Polish word for growling. Idzik wired the robot to a large language model so it could hold live conversations in Polish; once it could talk, people stopped being afraid of it. Edward has since visited the Polish parliament, hiked mountains, waded in a lake, been jokingly arrested by police, and in April went viral worldwide for a video chasing wild boars through Warsaw armed with a backpack and a Rolex. It now has over 1 million followers and 4 billion views across social media. Idzik and Grzelaczyk's company, MERA Robotics, runs a fleet of 20 humanoid robots, most of them G1s, with some operating as different influencer personas in the Middle East and Southeast Asia. Other G1-based influencers cited include Rizzbot, which wears a cowboy hat and flirts with people in Austin; Bart Robot, which danced with Knicks fans in New York; and Brickell Clanker, created by 24-year-old Miami resident Jake Cooperstein, which changed jerseys to party with fans after World Cup games. Cooperstein tested a G1 in a New York robotics warehouse in January and ordered one the next day. Pricing varies by tier: Unitree lists a basic G1 at $13,500 before tariffs, shipping and taxes; a US distributor lists it at about $19,000; Cooperstein instead bought the U5 educational variant, which adds parts like dextrous hands and allows modification, for $66,000. He now rents Brickell Clanker out to influencer parties, nightclubs and corporate events for $800 to $1,200 an hour, and recently bought a second robot, the lighter, faster Unitree R1, priced at almost one-third the G1's base price, which he named Lil Clanker. The article also covers Unitree's business position: the company is set to go public on the Chinese stock market in about two weeks. Its IPO disclosures show more than half of Unitree's 2025 revenue came from delivering humanoid robots to real customers rather than lab testing, it shipped 5,511 humanoids in 2025 at an average price under $25,000, 43 percent of sales came from outside China, and the company turned profitable for the first time last year. Despite the commercial traction, the piece notes persistent doubts about whether G1-class robots can do real economic work, such as assembly-line or cleaning jobs, rather than crowd-pleasing stunts. Both Idzik and Cooperstein say that although the LLM lets their robots converse freely, they mostly teleoperate the robots' movement rather than let them act autonomously, worried a malfunction could hurt a bystander. Cooperstein's G1 came with about 20 built-in gestures and 15 dance moves, and he has since programmed custom moves, including a version of Norwegian soccer fans' 'Viking Row' gesture. In July, the US Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on new Chinese-made humanoid robots; models that had already cleared approval, including the G1 and R1, are theoretically still allowed to be sold in the US, but the article says no one is certain, and that Unitree will not be able to sell its next generation of robots there. Unitree did not respond to a request for comment.
Key facts
- Owners of the Unitree G1, a 4-foot-tall, 40-kilogram Chinese-made humanoid robot, are turning it into social media influencers, led by Poland's Edward Warchocki (over 1 million followers, 4 billion views) and Miami's Brickell Clanker.
- Unitree, which shipped 5,511 humanoids in 2025 at an average price under $25,000 and became profitable for the first time last year, is set to go public on the Chinese stock market in about two weeks; 43 percent of its sales came from outside China.
- Pricing for the G1 ranges from $13,500 on Unitree's site to about $19,000 through a US distributor to $66,000 for the modifiable U5 variant that Jake Cooperstein bought; his newer Unitree R1 costs almost one-third the G1's base price.
- Owners mostly teleoperate the robots' movements rather than let them act autonomously, fearing a malfunction could injure a bystander, even though an attached LLM lets the robots hold live conversations on their own.
- In July the US FCC banned new Chinese-made humanoid robots; already-approved models like the G1 and R1 are theoretically still sellable in the US, but the article says that is uncertain, and Unitree's next generation will not be allowed in at all.
Why it matters
The G1 is turning an off-the-shelf Chinese humanoid robot into a recognizable cultural product, the way a phone or a game console becomes a platform once enough people build things on it. Multiple independent owners on different continents took the same $13,500 chassis and, by wiring it to a large language model, produced local celebrities: Edward Warchocki in Poland, Brickell Clanker in Miami, Rizzbot in Austin, Bart Robot in New York. That is happening alongside Unitree's own numbers: profitable for the first time in 2025, more than half of that year's revenue from real deliveries rather than lab pilots, and an IPO roughly two weeks out. It is early evidence that humanoid robots can find a consumer market before anyone has proven they can do factory or household work.
Who it affects
Individual buyers and small operators, like software developer Bartosz Idzik and his MERA Robotics fleet of 20 robots, and 24-year-old Jake Cooperstein, who now rents Brickell Clanker to parties and corporate events. It affects Unitree itself, heading into a public listing on momentum built partly by unpaid influencer exposure. And it affects US buyers and distributors, who face a new FCC ban on new Chinese-made humanoid robots that leaves already-approved models like the G1 and R1 in a gray zone and blocks Unitree's next generation outright.
How to use it
A basic G1 costs $13,500 direct from Unitree before tariffs, shipping and taxes, about $19,000 through a US distributor, or $66,000 for the U5 educational variant with dextrous hands and modification rights, which is what Cooperstein bought. The cheaper Unitree R1, at roughly a third of the G1's base price, trades some capability for speed and lower weight. Out of the box the G1 came with about 20 gestures and 15 dance moves; custom moves take programming knowledge, as Cooperstein showed by scripting a soccer-fan 'Viking Row' gesture. As a business, Cooperstein charges $800 to $1,200 an hour to bring Brickell Clanker to influencer parties, nightclubs and corporate events.
How solid is it
The account comes from Wired's Made in China newsletter, written by Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis, based on first-person interviews with Idzik and Cooperstein and on Unitree's own IPO financial disclosures for the shipment, revenue and profitability figures. Unitree did not respond to Wired's request for comment, so the company's own framing of the FCC ban and its sales strategy is absent.
Risks and caveats
Both operators say they mostly teleoperate the robots rather than trust autonomous movement, specifically because a malfunction could hurt a bystander, meaning the 'talking, thinking' impression online is partly a human behind the joystick. The article itself flags that G1-class robots have not been shown to do real economic work like assembly-line or cleaning jobs, only crowd-pleasing stunts. The US FCC's July ban on new Chinese-made humanoid robots leaves already-cleared models like the G1 and R1 in an unresolved legal position, and Unitree will not be able to sell its next generation in the US at all. The piece also carries an unverified anonymous social-media quote calling the robot 'lit as fuck,' included as color rather than as a sourced claim.
“We are used to China copying other countries, but from the perspective of humanoids, other people should copy China.”
— Bartosz Idzik, cofounder of MERA Robotics