Unitree’s new humanoid robot jumps 2 meters, hits 12.66 m/s to break human records - Global Times

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BUSINESS / ECONOMY

Unitree’s new humanoid robot jumps 2 meters, hits 12.66 m/s to break human records

By Global Times Published: Aug 17, 2026 03:01 PM

Photo: Courtesy of Unitree Robotics

Unitree Robotics unveiled a new humanoid robot capable of a 2-meter standing vertical jump and a top speed of 12.66 meters per second, surpassing human records in both the standing high jump and running despite having legs just 0.85 meters long, the company told the Global Times in a statement. Unitree said that the entirely new robot was developed in just over three months and still has significant room for improvement over the coming months.

According to a video provided by Unitree to the Global Times on Monday, the robot landed steadily after leaping to a height of 2 meters.

This marks the latest push by a Chinese robotics firm this year to challenge the limits of human athletic performance.

In April, Unitree's H1 humanoid robot set a world record with a running speed of 10 meters per second, approaching the peak speed of sprint legend Usain Bolt. Now, the company's new "superhuman" robot has pushed the boundary even further, surpassing human limits in both speed and jumping performance.

Unitree Robotics said on August 12 that it had produced about 18,000 humanoid robots to date, counting only bionic bipedal humanoids and excluding other humanoid robots and wheeled-base models.

Ma Jihua, a veteran tech industry analyst, said that such extreme performance tests essentially serve as "stress tests" for a robot's underlying hardware and software coordination, pushing capabilities such as running, jumping, explosive power and balance control to their limits to determine the system's performance boundaries. Much like extreme testing in vehicle or aircraft development, understanding where those limits lie is essential before a robot can be reliably matched with real-world applications, Ma said.

Such extreme motion tests place particularly high demands on a robot's stability and whole-body coordination, Xiang Ligang, director-general of the Zhongguancun Modern Information Consumer Application Industry Technology Alliance, said. Whether running at high speed or completing a 2-meter standing jump, the robot must coordinate multiple joints in real time and remain stable upon landing without losing balance or sustaining damage, requiring close integration of mechanical design, power systems and artificial intelligence-driven control algorithms.

Xiang said that the ability to maintain stability during highly dynamic movements is especially important for future operations in unpredictable environments. As robots become more agile and better able to adjust their posture and movement in real time, they could become more capable of operating in difficult terrain, disaster response situations and other high-risk or complex environments.

As global competition in robotics intensifies, particularly amid US technology restrictions targeting China, advancing cutting-edge technologies and strengthening independent innovation have become increasingly important.

Likewise, as technological advances bring robots closer to everyday use, their deployment in complex real-world environments is also emerging as a key battleground in the global robotics competition.

Ma said that advances in humanoid robotics are achieved through incremental technological breakthroughs. While setting a single performance record does not mean all real-world application challenges have been solved, continued improvements in core capabilities can eventually translate into broader gains in overall performance, helping humanoid robots move beyond laboratory demonstrations toward more complex and practical applications.

According to data released by California-based market research firm Smart Analytics Global on August 10, Unitree ranked second globally in the first half of 2026, with shipments surging 170 percent year-on-year to about 5,900 units, accounting for 31 percent of the global market.

Unitree Robotics has already listed on the STAR Market, becoming the first humanoid robotics company to debut on China's A-share market. Its shares were priced at 150.80 yuan ($22.38) apiece, with the IPO allotment results already announced.

In addition, industry data showed that Chinese vendors accounted for more than 97 percent of global humanoid robot shipments in the first half of 2026.

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