Unitree's founder says robot fighting demos are less entertaining than in 2025, and claims two robots now fight fully autonomously
Per Global Times (5 Nov 2026), Wang Xingxing says stable robots make fights less dramatic and that Unitree has two robots fighting autonomously with a world model; no independent verification is reported.
Unitree's founder and CEO, Wang Xingxing, has said that humanoid robot fighting demonstrations have become less entertaining than they were in 2025, because the machines now stay upright after heavy blows. He also said Unitree has achieved fully autonomous robot fighting. Both statements come from a Global Times report published on 5 November 2026; Roboxing has found no second report and has not seen the demonstration he describes.
WHAT WANG SAID
According to Global Times, Wang spoke on Thursday 5 November at a sub-forum on humanoid robots and embodied intelligence at the 9th Hongqiao International Economic Forum. He said robots can now remain upright after taking heavy blows, which reduces the dramatic knockdowns and falls that once made the performances more compelling. The report quotes him: "Robot autonomous fighting was a concept Unitree proposed in 2025, and more than a year has passed since then. Interestingly, the spectacle is now less entertaining than it was last year."
THE AUTONOMY CLAIM
Global Times says Wang noted that Unitree has achieved fully autonomous robot fighting using an end-to-end world model that processes visual input in real time and makes decisions directly through the model. He called it a result completed over the past one or two months. By his account, two robots have achieved fully autonomous fighting and can perform a dozen to about 20 actions; in theory, after training, they could load hundreds or even thousands of actions for free combinations. He also described a push to build a self-evolving AI feedback loop for robots.
WHAT THIS DOES AND DOES NOT TELL US
This is a company founder's own description at a forum. The report does not say where or when the two-robot demonstration took place, whether it was shown publicly, which robot models were used, or whether the model runs on the robot. Independent verification is not reported. It is also a statement about Unitree's own work, not about any fight league: Roboxing has no record of Unitree robots being entered in a scheduled league event on the strength of this remark.
For fight fans the point is a trade-off the founder himself names: more stable, more autonomous robots may produce fewer spectacular falls. Leagues differ on whether pilots or software drive their machines; see Roboxing's league-by-league guide to remote control and autonomy.
SOURCE
Global Times, "Unitree founder explains why robot fighting is less entertaining than before", 5 November 2026 (read 10 November 2026).