DeepSeek invests in Unitree to develop AI models for humanoid robots

DeepSeek has invested in Unitree, the Chinese humanoid robotics company, to develop AI models for humanoid robots, according to a report carried by the Ukrainian outlet Mezha and aggregated through Google News.

The brief report identifies the collaboration as focused on building AI models that can power humanoid machines, but it discloses no investment amount or equity details.

Unitree is one of the most recognizable names in humanoid robotics, with its bipedal and quadrupedal machines widely shared across developer communities and online demonstrations, and it is among the most closely watched Chinese companies in embodied AI.

For DeepSeek, the investment extends its footprint from large language models into the physical world. Humanoid robots depend on multimodal understanding, planning, and embodied reasoning, capabilities that frontier model labs are increasingly expected to supply, making a model-hardware pairing a natural fit.

For Unitree, tying a model developer closer to its hardware could help close the software gap in embodied intelligence as robots move from demonstrations toward real deployments.

The report arrives as model companies and robotics firms increasingly pair up, with embodied AI emerging as one of the most active fronts for turning frontier models into real-world products.

What to watch: any details on the size of the stake, the model roadmap behind the partnership, and whether DeepSeek-powered intelligence shows up in Unitree's next robot generations.