Twenty-five Unitree humanoid robots performed Drunken Fist kung fu on China's Spring Festival Gala in February. Mid-air flips. Cluster coordination. A scripted fall that looked like an accident.

The performance was impressive because the hardware is impressive. The performance was also the ceiling of what Unitree's current software can reliably deliver. Months of rehearsal. Pre-programmed choreography. Even the failure was scripted.

This is the gap that defines Unitree's IPO bet. Hardware can do the body. Software cannot yet direct the body in general environments. The 50 percent of IPO proceeds going to AI investment is the company telling you what it knows. It is shipping bodies and trying to buy time to build the mind.

Full Unitree deep dive on Robonaissance.