Robots are the future, and China is leading the way towards it. A new viral video looks like a scene from a sci-fi film. A Unitree G1 humanoid robot, standing roughly 4.3 feet tall, is seen strolling outdoors with a Unitree Go2 robot dog trotting beside it on a leash. No human intervention in sight. Just two machines – one bipedal, one quadrupedal – going for a leisurely walk together.

The clip, posted on Reddit, has gone viral, racking up upvotes and igniting a comment section full of awe, dark humour, and more than a little existential dread.

The reactions were exactly what you’d expect from the internet meeting its robot overlords. “We are so cooked,” wrote one user a phrase that appeared in dozens of replies. Others leaned into the absurdity, “The robot dog has a robot owner, that’s the funniest thing I’ve seen all week.”

One commenter noted grimly, “The circle of life has been automated.” A few users pointed out that the humanoid likely cost around $16,000, and the dog around $2,800 – making this the most expensive dog walk in history.

Meet the men behind the machinery: Unitree Robotics

Both robots are products of Unitree Robotics, a Hangzhou-based Chinese startup founded in 2016 that has rocketed from obscurity to the forefront of the global robotics revolution, driven by a strategy of undercutting rivals on price.

The company’s G1 humanoid robot stands at approximately 4.3 feet tall, walks at up to 4.4 mph, and features 3D LiDAR and depth cameras. Its Go2 robot dog, introduced in July 2023, starts under $3,000 – positioned as a dramatically cheaper alternative to Boston Dynamics’ $75,000 Spot.

Unitree expects to ship between 10,000 and 20,000 humanoid robots in 2026 alone, and the company shows no signs of slowing down. From dancing at China’s Spring Festival Gala to going on solo dog walks, these machines are no longer a laboratory curiosity — they’re becoming a cultural phenomenon.

India’s awkward Unitree moment

The viral video lands at an embarrassing time for India. At the India AI Impact Summit in New Delhi in February 2026, a professor from Galgotias University was caught on camera presenting a Unitree Go2 as a robot “developed by the Centre of Excellence at Galgotias University” – before social media users quickly identified it as the Chinese-made product available online for roughly $2,800. The university was subsequently asked to leave the summit.

The incident highlighted both how accessible Unitree’s robots have become globally, and how far India still has to go in developing homegrown robotics.

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