US Trojan horse alarms pushing China's robots to Europe

Asia Times

2 days ago

Chinese robot makers are expanding their presence in Europe amid the growing risk of having their products banned by Washington if the US-China technology war escalates.
Distributors of Unitree Robotics and several others backed by Chinese technology giants such as Baidu, Alibaba and Tencent (a tech trio known as BAT), said at a recent event in London that Chinese firms are actively seeking European customers and partners.
Aska Liu, founder and chief executive at EnduX, a United Kingdom-based distributor for Chinese robot makers, told Asia Times that many Chinese robotic firms are still collaborating with their US counterparts despite rising Sino-China political tensions. Aska Liu, founder and chief executive at EnduX, says Europe and China should collaborate in robotic technologies. Photo: Asia Times/Jeff Pao
For example, she said that Physical Intelligence (Pi), a California-based AI firm founded in 2024, used AgiBot's hardware to develop their robotic brains.
She said Chinese and US firms, which are good at hardware and brains, respectively, should collaborate and utilize each other's strengths.
However, she noted that some Chinese players are now seeking to diversify their markets.
'We have seen a shift in focus of some Chinese players to Europe,' she said. 'They are saying: The US has so much instability and uncertainty. We don't want to put all eggs in one basket.'
She suggested Europe could benefit from the changing political situation between the US and China, as Chinese robot makers want to build stronger relationships with the bloc.
Liu said Europe is the best place in the world for Chinese firms to deploy robotic technologies because: Europe has labor shortage challenges;
Europe has intense industrial and agricultural scenes for the deployment of robots;
Europe is a global leader in regulations and a good gatekeeper for ethics, safety and standards;
China has a complete electronic supply chain for companies to finish proof-of-concept (POC) and mass-produce their robots.
She said Chinese robot makers should target markets related to research and education, inspection and patrolling, hospitality and services, material handling and so-called 'teleoperation', which allows workers in low-wage countries to control robots remotely and work in shops and factories in high-cost countries.
At the same time, Chinese robots are under assault in America. On May 9, the US Congress' Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) said its members signed a bipartisan letter warning of a growing national security threat posed by Unitree's 'dual-use' robots.
The committee called for an investigation into Unitree's connection to the People's Liberation Army (PLA) and whether the company's products contain built-in backdoors that transmit data back to China. It said China might use the robots' remote-access features to spy, gather intelligence or cause Trojan horse-like disruption inside the US.
'The fact that PLA-connected robots are operating in US prisons and even within Army operations should be a wake-up call,' said committee chairman John Moolenaar. 'These machines are not just tools—they are potential surveillance devices backed by the CCP.'
In November 2022, the Federal Communications Commission banned the import of communications equipment made by China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE because they were 'deemed to pose an unacceptable risk to national security.' In early 2024, the Biden administration warned of potential national security risks associated with Chinese electric vehicle imports.
Autodiscovery, a UK-based distributor for China's Unitree and AgileX, said on its website that it can disable all networking features if a customer wishes to use the robot in a secure environment.
According to official footage, Unitree G1 and US robot maker Boston Dynamics' Atlas can move swiftly, but the latter can perform more complex tasks, such as precisely moving objects. Aron Kisdi, managing director at Autodiscovery, says Chinese robot makers aim to enhance their robots' ability to move objects. Photo: Asia Times/Jeff Pao
'In the recent demonstrations from Boston Dynamics, we have seen much more capability from the robot. It can pick up heavy objects and move them around in a facility. That is certainly a skill many of our clients are looking for,' said Aron Kisdi, managing director at Autodiscovery.
'The ability to do simple tasks like moving strange-shaped or heavy objects from one location to another in the factory is useful for our clients,' he said.
'Unitree platforms don't have the software capability out of the box, and we need to implement this specifically for the client whenever we find a new deployment. Boston Dynamics is ahead of this.'
Kisdi said his company not only sells Chinese robots but also helps Chinese manufacturers understand the needs of European customers, enabling them to improve their research and development (R&D).
'We are increasingly talking to end users who don't have a robotics lab but want a functional robot in their facility doing useful things,' he said. 'By the end of 2026 or the beginning of 2027, we will have Unitree-based platforms with improved software that can go straight to clients.'
Atlas is not yet available for sale. Its production cost is estimated to be between US$500,000 and $1 million. Unitree's G1 robot, which made global headlines in the world's first robotic kickboxing match in Hangzhou last month, is priced at only $16,000.
'I wouldn't categorize Chinese and US robots as low-end or high-end, but they are in different parts of the value chain,' Liu said.
'China is leading the hardware, manufacturing and design. We see all sorts of robots manufactured and designed in China, which are second to none. You won't be able to find this level of variety, quality, value for money or cost anywhere.'
'In a humanoid robot, 40 to 60% of its parts can be sourced from the supply chain of electric vehicles. China is very well developed in electric vehicles, and it's having an advantage,' she added.
Founded by Liu in March 2023, EnduX sells robots for LimX Dynamics (backed by Alibaba Group and NIO Capital), AgiBot (backed by Tencent, BYD and Baidu), Deep Robotics and Kepler Exploration Robotics. LimX's TRON1 Photo: Asia Times/Jeff Pao
Although Chinese robot makers enjoy a cost advantage in global markets, they face rising domestic competition.
At the Humanoids Summit, held in London on May 29-30, Unitree displayed an H1 robot without turning it on, while Kingston University used a Unitree G1 robot to demonstrate some simple movements.
EnduX demonstrated LimX's TRON1, a biped robot that can maintain balance on rough terrains.
Booster Robotics, a Beijing-based company established in 2023, stole the show with its T1 robot playing football and performing with a human dancer.
The T1 humanoid robot stands 1.2 meters and weighs 30 kilograms, compared with Unitree G1's 1.3 meters and 35 kilograms. A Booster T1 robot performs with a human dancer. Photo: Asia Times/Jeff Pao
'Unitree is a great company and has made great products and market noise,' Chaoyi Li, head of globalization at Booster Robotics, told Asia Times during a question-and-answer session. 'As a startup, we have to differentiate our products. We want to make something robust to ensure our products don't break that much.'
Li said Booster also invested in software development, with many of its team members having worked in companies like Microsoft. He said his company would build better hands for its robots to do sophisticated tasks.
Read: China stages first-ever humanoid robot kickboxing match