China’s humanoid robotics industry just entered a new phase following Unitree’s blockbuster public listing.
The Hangzhou-based company’s $905 million Shanghai STAR Market debut surged as much as 629 percent, peaking at $66 billion, before closing up 460 percent for a valuation around $50 billion. As Unitree scales up its next-generation superhuman robots and ridable mechas, Chinese robotics startups are racing to become the next major player to tap markets for massive amounts of capital.
Among the front of the pack is Shenzhen-based EngineAI, known for its T800 humanoids that are named after Arnold’s most iconic character. Just three years old, the robotics firm is already scaling the robots from two factories while upgrading them for more humanlike sensing. The AI-powered humanlike machines are sharpening their combat skills, patrolling the streets as police, apparently helping build fellow robots, and shrugging off a new ban to bring it on in the US.
REK Holds First T800 Cage Match
Engine AI’s flagship humanoid robots recently had their first fight on US soil. The San Francisco startup REK (Robot Entertainment Kombat) hosted a cage match between a pair of the Terminator-inspired machines during an invite-only livestreamed event.
REK founder Cix Liv says the robots valued at $100,000 a piece are the only T800s in the US. They were imported before the FCC banned unauthorized advanced foreign-made robots.
While the restrictions apply to all robot manufacturers outside the US, they mostly affect Chinese companies, which import the vast majority of America’s humanoids and quadrupeds. Robotics firms like Unitree and Agibot previously secured approval to sell their most popular models in the US, so they’re minimally impacted for now. But EngineAI didn’t make the cut off, so they’ll likely remain scarce for the foreseeable future.
EngineAI lists the T800 as standing 173 cm (5 feet 8 inches) in tall and weighing up to 85 kg (187 lbs). Final production versions, like th ones used by REK, are reportedly closer to 1.5 m (6 feet).
The T800 has a reported 29 degrees of freedom (DoF) and comes equipped with three-fingered hands with seven moving joints each. It boasts significantly higher torque than most modern humanoids at 450 Nm, which on paper surpasses 90 percent of men in their prime. However, its payload capacity is lighter than rivals like Atlas from Boston Dynamics at around 5 kg (11 lbs) per hand.
Its name is a direct reference to the iconic synthetic human from The Terminator series, which engine founder Zhao Tongyang cites as a major influence on him growing up.
REK started holding underground fight club events in 2025 featuring compact Unitree G1 robots controlled with VR setups. The startup held its T800 matchup at its storefront that sells and repairs humanoids. Hiroyuku Osone, who previously won a REK tournament held in Japan, won the match, piloting a T800 with a Gundam-style helmet via remote control. His prize was a much smaller Unitree R1 humanoid.
The fight lasted just a few minutes, much shorter and less dramatic than EngineAI’s inaugural Ultimate Robot Knockout League (URKL) spectacle in Shenzhen. But REK says it’s just the beginning, and plans for global expansion are in the works. The company has launched a free game on Steam where players can train in simulation to qualify to pilot real robots at live wreck events.
PaXini Upgrades T800’s Feet
While the T800 is a rarity in the US, EngineAI is scaling production and distribution elsewhere after raising around $200 million earlier this year. The 3-year-old robotics firm is reportedly seeking a public listing in Hong Kong with a valuation of $1.5 billion. EngineAI is racing toward an IPO alongside other startups from Shenzhen’s Nanshan district, including:
- LimX Dynamics, known for its multi-form factor TRON robots and its humanoids Oli and Luna.
- Pudu Robotics, one of the world’s leading service robot manufacturers that’s expanding into humanoids.
- And Leju Robot, which has begun mass-producing its flagship Kuavo humanoids at a factory it operates with Dongfeng Precision.
Another Shenzhen startup reportedly seeking to go public, PaXini Tech, recently collaborated with EngineAI to give the T800 more human-like sensing in its feet.
PaXini integrated its so-called multi-dimensional tactile sensor technology into the robot’s foot soles for a better understanding of pressure, balance, foot placement, and the terrain beneath it. With the state-of-the-art sensing tech, the T800 can quietly sneak up on suspects while on police patrol and feel exactly how hard it kicks.
According to Paxini, its PX-FOOTRIX system tracks forces from multiple directions, measures up to 2,000 newtons of vertical force, and takes readings up to 150 times per second. The data feeds into the robot’s onboard artificial intelligence, which uses it to optimize its walking gate and foot placement in real time.
Paxini says the modular system is designed for long-term use in harsh environments and for activities like running and jumping. Paxini, which has raised at least $515 million to date, is also valued around 1.5 billion.
EngineAI Scales Production
EngineAI started mass producing its T800 and its shorter PM01 humanoids which are priced starting around $40,000 and $25,000 at its first factory in Shenzhen earlier this year.
The company is building out a second manufacturing base more inland in Zhengzhou that currently covers around 8,000 m or over 86,000 square ft. Second phase plans call for an expansion to 40,000 square meters (430,000 square feet). Its Shenzhen production facility spans 12,000 meters (129,000 square feet).
EngineAI is targeting a production volume of 10,000 units annually.
Outside of cage matches, EngineAI’s robots have been shown piloting as public safety officers and in its latest demo as part of a multi-root collaboration unit at Luxshare’s Suzhou factory.
The major Apple supplier and lead investor in EngineAI’s latest Series B round has agreed to give the T800 access to one of its electronics manufacturing environments to accelerate its learning.
EngineAI shared this footage showing what it claims is a small fleet of its humanoids autonomously executing work orders issued by Luxshare’s manufacturing execution system (MES). In the video, the robots retrieve materials for transport from a human co-worker, verify materials using computer vision, and use three-fingered end effectors for picking and placing what looks like robotic components. They also demonstrate the ability to avoid obstacles and walk steadily while carrying payloads with one or both arms.
The video ends with a T800 pushing an Engine PM01 humanoid on a wheeled support rig, implying that the robots are helping build other robots at the factory.