NextFin News - U.S. chip giant Nvidia has formally integrated Chinese robotics startup Unitree into its hardware ecosystem, selecting the Hangzhou-based firm as the primary platform for its first research-focused humanoid robotics system. The announcement, made by U.S. President Trump’s administration-era tech titan Jensen Huang at the Computex conference in Taipei on Monday, pairs Unitree’s H2 humanoid body with Nvidia’s Blackwell-powered Jetson Thor hardware. The move arrives at a critical juncture for Unitree, which is facing the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s listing review committee today, June 1, for a planned 4.2 billion yuan ($620 million) initial public offering.
The collaboration represents a significant deepening of the "physical AI" supply chain, a sector Huang predicts could eventually reach tens of trillions of dollars in market value. The integrated system, designed for elite research institutions from Stanford to ETH Zurich, utilizes Nvidia’s Isaac GR00T AI models and simulation stacks. By providing a "reference humanoid" that is fully integrated with 31 degrees of freedom, Nvidia is effectively lowering the barrier to entry for academic researchers who previously struggled with the immense complexity of building humanoid hardware from scratch. The robot also incorporates mechanical hands from Singapore-based Sharpa, further highlighting the increasingly international nature of the high-end robotics assembly line.
Unitree’s financial trajectory provides the backdrop for Nvidia’s selection. According to the company’s prospectus filed with the Shanghai Stock Exchange, revenue surged from 159 million yuan in 2023 to 1.699 billion yuan in 2025, representing a three-year compound annual growth rate of over 226%. The startup swung from a net loss in 2023 to a profit of 278 million yuan in 2025, positioning itself as a rare profitable "pure-play" in the humanoid robotics space. This rapid scaling has been fueled by Unitree’s dominance in the quadruped (robot dog) market and its aggressive pivot toward human-sized machines like the H2 and G1 models.
However, the partnership and the IPO come with inherent geopolitical and execution risks. While Nvidia’s endorsement provides a massive technical validation, the reliance on U.S.-designed Blackwell chips—which are subject to evolving export controls—creates a potential bottleneck for Unitree’s long-term global scaling. Furthermore, while Unitree’s revenue growth has been explosive, first-quarter 2026 data shows a cooling of year-over-year growth to 68.49%, down from the triple-digit surges of previous years. This deceleration suggests that the initial "frenzy" of research-tier sales may be stabilizing as the industry waits for broader industrial and consumer applications to materialize.
Market analysts remain divided on whether the humanoid sector can transition from research labs to factory floors within the five-year window Huang has projected. While Unitree’s 60% gross profit margin on core businesses is impressive, the company’s valuation will likely be tested by the Shanghai Stock Exchange’s scrutiny of its "embodied intelligence" claims and the sustainability of its technological lead. For now, the Nvidia alliance secures Unitree’s position at the center of the AI-robotics convergence, even as the startup navigates the regulatory hurdles of a landmark public listing in a tightening capital market.
Explore more exclusive insights at nextfin.ai.
