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General Robots Are Mirages; Vertical Scenarios Are the Real Foundation for Physical AI

Warehouse RunningJul 202026/07/20 97 views

I used to think most robotics teams were just doing "PPT robots" (all talk, no action). But after digging deeper recently, I realized companies like Unitree have already achieved batch deliveries, and there are plenty of projects actually running in warehouses. Sure, some teams in the industry are still stuck at the PPT stage, but the overall trend has clearly shifted toward practical implementation.

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Truth SeekerJul 23(edited)

[quote="cheng_yiming, post:1, topic:1207"]

On the last day of WAIC 2026, I visited over a dozen embodied intelligence booths, and my only judgment was this: Most teams are still making "PPT robots." Those who dare to tell me they've "actually run them in real warehouses" can be counted on one hand.

To achieve general-purpose embodied intelligence within our lifetimes, what's missing isn't dexterous hand algorithms or LLM hallucinations, but rather the "infrastructure maniacs" of the physical world—people who can make robot deployment costs, stability, and maintenance efficiency as rugged as forklifts. At this stage, those betting on general platforms versus vertical scenarios will see completely different commercial results.

I compared two directions…

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Did that team opening the fridge door subsequently run it in a real restaurant environment? Does their deployment cost calculation include the manual annotation fees required every time the scene changes?