Unitree will sell you a massive ‘transformable mecha’ for $650,000

A striking development has emerged in artificial intelligence. Tech TechPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All Tech News NewsPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All News Robot RobotPosts from this topic will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

FollowSee All RobotUnitree will sell you a massive ‘transformable mecha’ for $650,000The GD01 can punch through walls and carry you around like a horse. The GD01 can punch through walls and carry you around like a horse. by Jess Weatherbed Jess WeatherbedNews ReporterPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

Technical Details

FollowSee All by Jess WeatherbedMay 13, 2026, 12:11 PM UTC Here’s how the GD01 (seen left) stacks up against Unitree’s CEO and existing humanoid robots. Image: Unitree Jess Weatherbed Jess WeatherbedPosts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed. FollowSee All by Jess Weatherbed is a news writer focused on creative industries, computing, and internet culture.

Jess started her career at TechRadar, covering news and hardware reviews. Unitree is already one of the most recognizable names in the humanoid robot industry, but now it’s pursuing even nicher sci-fi tech: giant mech suits. The Chinese robotics company has debuted the GD01, which it describes as “the world’s first production-ready manned mecha,” and it can be yours for a paltry $650,000.

Well, Unitree doesn’t really explain its intended functionality, but the GD01’s introductory video on YouTube provides some ideas. Unitree shows it knocking over a wall of cinderblocks and switching between bipedal position (which, to me, resembles the Power Loader that Ellen Ripley pilots in Aliens) to a mode that allows it to walk around on four legs like an unsettling mechanical horse. It’s a civilian vehicle.

Industry Implications

It weighs ~500kg with you inside,” Unitree says in the video description. “Please everyone be sure to use the robot in a friendly and safe manner. ”Some shots show Unitree CEO Xingxing Wang clambering into the GD01’s cockpit, what appears to be a racing-style chair surrounded by a roll-cage.

I suspect, however, that the “passenger” it’s actually seen carrying around is likely a dummy for testing purposes. It’s also unclear how the mech is actually operated as some clips show that it can perform tasks without having a person inside it. Its ability to “transform” — switching between bipedal and quadrapedal modes — also appears to be limited, as the seating position doesn’t orientate itself when the bot flips over.

Any passengers in this situation will either find themselves staring into the sky, or, presumably, having to get out and adjust the seat position manually. The GD01 apparently isn’t a prank (Wired confirmed with Unitree) though you’d be forgiven for thinking it is.

This advance offers important signals about the future of the sector, and the tech world is watching closely.