Unitree Robotics (a Chinese robotics manufacturer known for the H1 humanoid and Go2 quadruped) has released the GD01 — a piloted mech priced at $650,000.
It fits one person inside. Together with the pilot, the unit weighs around 500 kg. It can walk on its arms as a second set of legs. In the demo video, it takes out a brick wall in a single punch.
Why it matters
Piloted mechs have largely existed as one-off exhibition prototypes — shown at events, never shipped at scale. Unitree calls the GD01 the world's first mech ready for mass production. If that's not marketing, it's a new product category.
Against that backdrop, Unitree's request to use the GD01 "for safe and friendly purposes" reads like a line from a chainsaw manual.
So — do we want one?