An article published in WIRED magazine by Zeyi Yang and Louise Matsakis describes the meteoric rise of Chinese-made humanoid robots that have become popular social media influencers across various countries. At the center of the story is the Unitree G1 robot model, a robot standing about four feet tall (approximately 120 centimeters), which is sparking immense public interest and racking up billions of views. Alongside this impressive viral success, a question arises: will these robots ever be able to integrate into the real labor market and perform traditional economic tasks?
Edward Warchocki: The Robot That Became a Sensation on the Streets of Poland
One of the prominent figures in this phenomenon is a robot named Edward Warchocki, who wanders the streets of Poland. When conversing with him, he sounds like a regular person. Bartosz Idzik, the creator of the robot, describes him as having an emotional and friendly personality, but when he is not speaking, it is hard to forget that this is a four-foot-tall humanoid machine.
The idea of purchasing the robot from China came up about six months ago in the minds of Idzik and his friend Radosław Grzelaczyk. They named him "Edward Warchocki" after Grzelaczyk's dog, Eddie, combined with the Polish word for growling ("warczeć"), and because the name sounded Polish. In the first few days, Edward was unable to speak, and passersby were startled by him. To solve this, Idzik, who is a software developer, connected him to a large language model (LLM) that gave him the ability to conduct live conversations in Polish. "When he started to talk, people loved him. Without talking, it's just a 40-kilogram machine," Idzik explains.
Within a short time, Edward made many friends: he visited the Polish parliament and chatted with politicians, hiked in the mountains, waded in lakes, and was even jokingly "arrested" by the police. This past April, a video of Edward chasing away wild boars in Warsaw, equipped with a backpack and wearing a Rolex watch, went viral worldwide. Today, Edward holds over one million followers and has recorded more than 4 billion views on social media.
A Wave of Robotic Influencers Around the Globe
In 2026, humanoid robot influencers are wandering in many places around the world: "Rizzbot" wears a cowboy hat and flirts with passersby on the streets of Austin, Texas; "Bart Robot" breakdances with Knicks fans in New York to celebrate the team's championship; and "Brickell Clanker" celebrates with World Cup fans, changing into different national team jerseys after the games.
All of these robots are based on the Unitree G1 model, manufactured by the Chinese company Unitree, a leader in the robotics industry. The G1 is designed to be the size of a child, featuring a hollowed-out face surrounded by a ring of blue light and light-gray aluminum limbs. The robot showcases a variety of viral activities: it is scheduled to appear on America's Got Talent, shows off kung fu skills, participates in boxing matches, performs parkour, dances at concerts, runs with children, tries to cook (but fails), appears on stream with internet star Kai Cenat, begs for money, goes on dates with itself, gets ordained as a monk in Japan and Korea, and prays at a mosque in Dubai. As an anonymous user wrote on the social media network X: "This clanker is lit as fuck!"
Financial Reports and Unitree's Commercial Success
Unitree is expected to go public on the Chinese stock market in about two weeks. The company's financial disclosures reveal the popularity of its products: unlike most robotics companies whose products are still being tested in labs, more than half of Unitree's revenue in 2025 came from delivering humanoid robots to real end-customers. In 2025 alone, the company shipped 5,511 humanoid robots at an average price of less than $25,000 per robot. About 43 percent of all sales came from outside China, and the company became profitable for the first time last year.
"We tested a lot of humanoids, and the G1 was the best for its purpose," says Idzik. According to him, while the world is used to China copying technology, in this field the situation is reversed, and others should copy China. Despite its commercial success, deep doubts still exist regarding the robots' ability to perform traditional jobs that contribute to the economy, such as working on an assembly line or cleaning houses.
Jake Cooperstein's Story and Activities in Miami
Jake Cooperstein, a 24-year-old living in Miami, was inspired by Edward and other robot accounts and decided to create an influencer of his own. In January, he visited a robotics store warehouse in New York and tested the Unitree G1. He was impressed by its ease of operation, and the next day he placed an order and paid a deposit.
On Unitree's website, the official price of a basic G1 robot is $13,500, before import taxes, tariffs, and shipping. An authorized distributor in the United States offers the robot for about $19,000. Cooperstein was not satisfied with the basic version, as it does not include dextrous hands capable of complex manipulation, and modifications and customizations are prohibited on it. Instead, he purchased the U5 version intended for educational and research customers. This version contains more parts and allows for high customization, but its price stands at $66,000.
Cooperstein named his robot "Brickell Clanker" after the downtown Miami neighborhood, and began taking it out into public spaces. The robot got its big break during the fan parties of the World Cup matches held this summer, when it was dressed in Argentina, Brazil, and U.S. national team jerseys. Today, Cooperstein monetizes the robot by charging a fee to bring the robot to influencer parties, nightclubs, and corporate and social events. Rates range from $800 to $1,200 per hour, depending on the activity required from the robot. Recently, Cooperstein purchased another robot manufactured by Unitree, the Unitree R1 model, nicknamed "Lil Clanker." This model is faster and lighter, and its price stands at nearly one-third of the G1's base price, as part of Unitree's attempt to make robots more accessible.
Technical Limitations and Regulatory Obstacles
It remains unclear whether Cooperstein will be able to continue purchasing Unitree robots in the future. This past July, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) announced a ban on the marketing and import of new Chinese-made humanoid robots. Models that had already cleared approvals—such as the G1 and R1—are theoretically still permitted for use, but the future is uncertain. What is certain is that when Unitree releases its next generation of robots, it will not be able to sell them in the United States. Unitree itself did not respond to requests for comment.
In Europe, Edward Warchocki faces fewer regulatory threats. Idzik says that the company he co-founded with Grzelaczyk, MERA Robotics, currently holds a fleet of about 20 humanoid robots, most of which are Unitree G1 models. All the robots in Poland share the same personality of Edward, and they have additional robots operating as influencers in the Middle East and Southeast Asia.
Although the large language model allows the robots to converse freely, their physical movement is still highly limited. Both Idzik and Cooperstein admit that when they take the robots out into public, they teleoperate them most of the time. While the robot is supposed to be capable of moving on its own in the physical environment, the operators fear unexpected malfunctions that could injure bystanders and create a safety hazard.
The robot Cooperstein purchased arrived from the factory with about 20 built-in gestures and 15 dance moves. Beyond that, programming any new movement requires complex technical knowledge. Cooperstein programmed the Brickell Clanker to move its arms in a way that simulates the signature "Viking Row" celebration of Norwegian national football team fans. Cooperstein recalls the first day he took the robot to the World Cup fan festival: hundreds of people and journalists surrounded the robot and cheered it on as it danced. "Nobody knows that it's me controlling it. It seems like I'm blending in with the crowd. I'm just staring out and looking at everybody," he says, "and I'm like, 'holy shit, this is the future.'"