Rivalling Musk's Optimus Robot, China Unveils Rs 5 Lakh Bot That Can Fist-Fight

A humanoid robot that can fist-fight and even do cartwheels has been unveiled by a Chinese company that costs a little over Rs 5 lakh ($6,000), rivalling other companies producing similar bots. The new R1 robot by Unitree Robotics, unveiled on Friday, could be seen performing handstands and throwing combination punches.

The R1 weighs about 55 pounds and has 26 joints to allow for flexible movement. It is also equipped with multimodal artificial intelligence, including voice and image recognition. The robot's capabilities, as shown in the viral video, mark a significant leap forward in robotic locomotion and balance.

Apart from displaying ample boxing capabilities, the robot also performed  "kip-up' -- a complex gymnastic manoeuvre involving a person or robot transitioning from a supine position to standing without using their hands.

See the viral video here:

Unitree Introducing | Unitree R1 Intelligent Companion Price from $5900
Join us to develop/customize, ultra-lightweight at approximately 25kg, integrated with a Large Multimodal Model for voice and images, let's accelerate the advent of the agent era!🥰 pic.twitter.com/Q5pmkfFZZa

— Unitree (@UnitreeRobotics) July 25, 2025

As of the last update, the video had garnered nearly three million views and hundreds of comments, with the majority asking if the robot could perform everyday chores.

"Will it fight anyone you point at? Asking for a friend," said one user while another added: "Can it walk my dog and serve breakfast to my kids?"

Meanwhile, other users tagged Elon Musk and his Tesla Optimus company, which also develops general-purpose, bipedal humanoids, capable of performing tasks that are unsafe, repetitive or boring.

"Yo @Tesla@Tesla_Optimus@elonmusk. You guys still trying compete? Hope you're not still in the lab in few years while these guys are ramping and deploying next year?" the user said.

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Apart from Mr Musk's company, US firm Boston Dynamics and its Atlas robots have also helped pioneer the humanoid robot market. However, an advanced human-like bot for just Rs 5 lakh, if done successfully, could mark a major milestone for China in the robotics and AI race.

Currently, Unitree's larger, more advanced humanoid robot H1 sells for more than Rs 77 lakh ($90,000). Unitree's older G1 humanoid, which has costs Rs 13.8 lakh ($16,000), grew popular for use in research labs and schools.