Guides, knowledge and news about buying and selling robots in Switzerland.
24 September 2026
Globally, around 7,000 humanoid robots were sold in 2025, compared to 542,000 industrial robots. Europe does not appear in the statistics as a separate category. Anyone buying in Switzerland today prefers to lease, and forecasts for 2035 differ by a factor of fourteen.
23 September 2026
Since September 22, Unitree has been selling a robot hand with 22 powered joints starting at $6,500; a pair costs around $13,000. The hand is considered the bottleneck of humanoids, and corresponding research models have so far only been available on request. However, important specifications are missing, and there is a company based in Zurich that is doing exactly the opposite.
22 September 2026
Boston Dynamics has opened a training center for the humanoid Atlas at Hyundai's plant in Georgia. Hyundai is planning 25,000 robots for its own factories. How many are training today remains a secret, and there is no union at the location.
21 September 2026
The Soft Robotics Lab at ETH Zurich is teaching a commercially available robot hand to walk on its fingers, right itself after falls, and press buttons. The hand from Chinese manufacturer Wuji remains unchanged; the new capability lies entirely in the software.
18 September 2026
Figure sent its humanoid into 30 unfamiliar homes in the Bay Area without on-site training: 237 of 420 tasks completed fully, 56 percent compared to eight without the new pre-training. The jump came earlier than expected. What the collection rate of six human-years per day means for the path to true autonomy can now be calculated for the first time.
17 September 2026
On September 8, GMO Internet Group launched an ambulance service for humanoids in Tokyo: technicians, spare parts, and a complete replacement robot are dispatched to the job site. The reason is a figure that nobody wanted to mention until now. According to GMO, approximately 30 to 40 percent of devices show component damage after three months of operation.
16 September 2026
On September 15, Agility unveiled Digit 5, a humanoid designed to work alongside humans without protective fencing: 22.7 kilo payload capacity, ninety minutes of runtime, nine minutes charging time. It won't be sold until 2027, first in North America, then in the EU and Great Britain. That's precisely when the new EU Machinery Regulation takes effect, and the robot doesn't have a CE mark yet.
15 September 2026
A robot dog from $1600, a humanoid from CHF 13,500, credit card is all you need. Legally, you become an importer yourself in Switzerland, and the battery is too large for postal return shipping. What direct imports really cost and why going through a dealer is usually cheaper in the end.
14 September 2026
Since July 15, China prohibits providers from designing anything that creates emotional dependency or damages real relationships. The country's largest AI apps shut down their companion features within ten days. Since September 15, UBTech has been shipping a companion robot with silicone skin, and so far no one has said whether the rules apply to it.
11 September 2026
EngineAI's T800 weighs 75 kilos and is housed in a magnesium-aluminum frame, while 1X's Neo is almost the same size but weighs just 30 kilos and is soft beneath its knitted covering. The choice of materials determines whether a machine must stay behind a safety barrier or can enter a home. Why the question of materials is more important than any demo video when making a purchase.
10 September 2026
The European startup Nucleus showed off a bipedal humanoid in early August. Since this week, the same system stands in the same hall on wheels: ten kilos of payload per arm, six times as much battery, five to nine hours of continuous operation. The facility managers demanded it, literally with the words 'no legs'.
9 September 2026
On September 7, XPeng launched the production line for the humanoid IRON in Guangzhou. The first robot left it on foot, without anyone switching it on, achieving over 80 percent automation in core processes. Tesla has not even publicly shown its third-generation Optimus in the same period.
8 September 2026
On September 3rd, Figure signed a contract for up to 100,000 graphics chips, larger than any capital the company has ever raised. 3.5 billion dollars go to British cloud provider Nscale, which is simultaneously entering Figure as a shareholder. The first chip runs at the earliest from the second half of 2027.
7 September 2026
On September 2, series production of humanoid robots on European soil began in the Serbian town of Šabac, operated by Shanghai-based manufacturer AGIBOT and automotive supplier Minth. Two days later, the same company announced at IFA Berlin the TÜV Rheinland certification of its flagship model and a European distribution partner. While the USA places foreign robotics on a blacklist, a Chinese manufacturer is emerging in Europe with factory, test seal, and dealer network.
4 September 2026
A security researcher disclosed two vulnerabilities in the Unitree G1 humanoid robot on August 27. Together, they grant full root access without cables, without passwords, from Bluetooth range. The critical concern is propagation: a hijacked G1 can attack any other G1 within radio range, and to this day there is no confirmed firmware version that patches the Bluetooth vulnerability.
3 September 2026
A bipedal robot costs less today than a used car. The first afternoon is wonderful, the second day is demanding. A scene from the hallway, with numbers that no brochure prints in bold.
2 September 2026
Teradyne Robotics, the parent company of Universal Robots, filed suit on August 27 at the Unified Patent Court in Copenhagen against the German subsidiary of Chinese manufacturer JAKA. The case involves several patents covering hardware and software, and covers almost the entire cobot product line offered in the EU. A ruling would take effect in 17 EU member states, plus the United Kingdom and Spain.
1 September 2026
In a state-funded training center in Liuzhou, people with VR headsets are teaching over a hundred humanoids simple hand movements. A usable movement emerges from three hundred attempts. A Reuters investigation from August 31 shows how far China's robot hardware has outpaced robot intelligence.
31 August 2026
On August 26, the humanoid Tiangong Ultra ran one hundred meters in 8.64 seconds, coming in almost a second under Usain Bolt's record. The real story, however, was in the medal table, where AGIBOT from Shanghai led with 46 medals from grasping and simulated work scenarios. This means the industry is split into two rankings that barely intersect.
14 August 2026
On August 11, a mandatory filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission revealed that Uber had sold its entire stake in Serve Robotics. Five days earlier, the delivery robot manufacturer had cut its annual forecast from 26 to 9 to 10 million dollars. The contract with its most important customer expires in early 2027.
13 August 2026
The automotive supplier Schaeffler is ordering at least a thousand humanoid robots by 2032. They will be built in Zurich by the robotics division of measurement technology company Hexagon. It is the largest known series order for humanoids in Europe, and the device is not even finished yet.
12 August 2026
American robot dealer RoboStore founded Robo Inc. on August 10th. The company plans to disassemble, secure, and reassemble Chinese robots on Long Island so US customers can use them despite the import ban of July 28th. The price difference gives the whole venture momentum: $13,500 for a Unitree humanoid, over $250,000 for the American equivalent.
11 August 2026
Within a week, three Chinese startups received three-digit million-dollar amounts without having delivered any robots so far. They develop models instead of machines. The prospectus of Unitree itself shows how far capital has shifted.
10 August 2026
California-based startup Tacta Systems unveiled a robotic hand with fifteen movable joints and sensors smaller than a grain of sand at the end of July. More exciting than the hand is the accompanying data glove: skilled workers wear it during normal work, while 256 sensors per fingertip record everything. When you put it on, you teach the machine what you yourself have learned over years.
7 August 2026
On August 6, Unitree set the offering price for its Shanghai IPO: 150.80 Yuan per share, valuing the Hangzhou manufacturer at around nine billion dollars. For the first time, the humanoid industry is getting a public price for a company that actually makes money. The timing is crucial, as the American market has been effectively closed to new robots from China since the end of July.
6 August 2026
Zurich startup Exclaim Robotics emerged on August 4th and announced a pre-seed round of 4.95 million dollars from Founderful and Playfair. The company is building mobile robots that replace faulty hardware in AI data centers. The impetus is the transition to 800-volt direct current in the rack, where routine maintenance becomes work with arc flash risk.
5 August 2026
BYD has confirmed its first humanoid robot: Xiao Di, 1.61 meters tall, 58.5 kilograms, 31 degrees of freedom. It won't work in the factory, but will greet customers in pairs or groups of three in every branch. It won't come to the USA—the FCC made sure of that six days before the announcement.
4 August 2026
In Ulsan, 35,000 Hyundai employees downed tools because the company wants to deploy 25,000 humanoid robots in its factories. There are none there yet in Korea. That's exactly the point: the union wants a say while it still can.
30 July 2026
The American telecommunications regulator FCC has banned the import of new humanoid robots and robot dogs from China effective immediately. Unitree is particularly affected. This makes Europe the most important open market for China's robotics industry, with consequences for Switzerland as well.
28 July 2026
London-based startup Humanoid has completed a Series A round of 152 million dollars and is now valued at 1.35 billion dollars. Behind the investment are venture capital firms as well as Bosch and Schaeffler. The two-year-old company has not delivered a single robot to date.
23 July 2026
Record vehicle deliveries, but not a single confirmed robot unit: At Wednesday's conference call, Tesla had to push back the production launch of Optimus once more. Meanwhile, the competition is already delivering verifiable numbers.
21 July 2026
On July 16, SoftBank sold its remaining stake in Boston Dynamics to Hyundai. The Korean automotive conglomerate now controls the world's probably most famous robot maker with one hundred percent ownership. Behind the deal lies a bet on the factory floor.
17 July 2026
On July 14, Chinese robotics company LimX Dynamics completed a pre-IPO round of around 200 million dollars, the second of this size within six months. Just days earlier, Unitree received the green light for a stock market listing worth over 600 million dollars in Shanghai. China's humanoid industry is transitioning from venture capital to the capital market, and at a pace that is remarkable even by Chinese standards.
14 July 2026
On July 9, 1X unveiled new hands for its household robot Neo: 25 degrees of freedom, tendon-driven actuation, and tactile sensing in the fingertips. The manufacturer is hitting on the industry's sore spot, because what actually makes humanoids useful is not determined by how they walk, but by how they grasp.
9 July 2026
Skild AI and Physical Intelligence don't build robots—they build the software that's supposed to control every robot. What Android became for smartphones, these two US startups want to become for robotics. Investors now value the bet at over 25 billion dollars, and Swiss conglomerate ABB is right in the middle of it.
9 July 2026
Rémi Cadene helped build the first neural networks for Tesla's Optimus robot. Now his Paris startup UMA is unveiling Northstar, its own humanoid that is initially intended to work in European factories and warehouses. Discussions are already underway with around 50 companies.
2 July 2026
Apptronik has opened a massive training facility for humanoid robots in Austin and simultaneously unveiled the second generation of its humanoid. Apollo 2 is less a product than a data gatherer: what it learns flows directly into Google DeepMind's robotics models.
30 June 2026
Nvidia presented a safety system for collaborative robots at the Automate trade show in Chicago. For the first time, it bundles all protective layers from the chip to certification and could lower the biggest hurdle in deploying humanoids. For Swiss companies that want to operate machines alongside people, this is far more than a footnote.
30 June 2026
At the end of March, Amazon purchased New York-based startup Fauna Robotics, along with its child-sized humanoid robot Sprout. The robot is sage green, soft-padded, and above all: nowhere near ready for the living room yet. Nevertheless, the deal reveals a lot about how seriously the company is taking the household robot.
29 June 2026
China's market leader AGIBOT has built its 15,000th robot, the latest model a mobile semi-humanoid for factory use. What's particularly remarkable is the speed of serial production. While the West is still talking about prototypes, China is currently deciding who will control robotics unit volumes and thus costs.
29 June 2026
On an artificial island in the Pearl River Delta, the first hotel to be operated entirely by robots is being built. Reception, room service, cleaning, and luggage handling are managed by different machines that share the same AI. Test operations begin in late 2026, opening in 2027—a preview of how far automation in the hospitality industry can go.
25 June 2026
Bear Robotics has delivered over 16,000 service robots that roll through restaurants and warehouses. What they lack are hands. With the acquisition of British startup Kinisi, the company wants to close exactly this gap, and in doing so, reveals where the real hurdle for the entire industry lies.
20 June 2026
Chinese manufacturer UBTech markets the U1 as a humanoid companion with silicone skin and emotion-sensing AI. It cannot climb stairs or do the dishes. What it is actually designed for remains remarkably unclear from both the manufacturer and tech press.
16 June 2026
US start-up Weave Robotics has unveiled «Isaac 1» – a mobile household robot that collects scattered items and places them in a basket. Instead of an expensive humanoid robot, the company deliberately focuses on a simple, friendly device that performs a specific task.
16 June 2026
A new method developed with the participation of ETH Zurich gives robots a better sense of three-dimensional space. The «Geometric Action Model» helps machines grasp objects more safely – faster and with less computing power than previous approaches.
15 June 2026
From ETH spin-offs to precision manufacturing – Switzerland is a surprisingly strong robotics hub. An overview of the ecosystem and its opportunities.
12 June 2026
Finding the right machine in a large selection is a challenge. Here's how AI-powered search turns a vague idea into the perfect listing.
10 June 2026
The world's largest electric vehicle manufacturer is officially entering humanoid robotics. After four years of secret project 'Yao-Shun-Yu', BYD is already testing around 150 prototypes in its own factories – using technology from its e-cars. What this means for the industry.
10 June 2026
Robot dogs and autonomous platforms are conquering inspection, logistics, and security. A closer look at the technology and real-world applications beyond the viral videos.
10 June 2026
Neura Robotics is raising up to 1.4 billion US dollars in a Series C round—at a valuation of around 7 billion. With Amazon, Nvidia, Qualcomm, and Tether on board, the company, which has relocated its humanoid development to Zurich, becomes Europe's best-capitalized player.
9 June 2026
Beijing is launching a nationwide program designed to bring humanoid robots from the demo phase into real jobs. Local authorities and state enterprises must submit plans by the end of June – the goal is 10,000 actually deployed units by the end of 2026.
8 June 2026
Figure is manufacturing at an hourly rate, Boston Dynamics is shipping the new Atlas, Agility and Robotera are operating in real logistics centers: June 2026 shows that humanoid robots are leaving the demo phase and moving into productive operation.
7 June 2026
A used robot can be a bargain or a money pit. With this checklist, you'll spot the difference before you pay.
4 June 2026
Automation is no longer exclusive to large corporations. Discover how small and medium-sized enterprises can boost productivity with robotic arms and cobots.
2 June 2026
Jensen Huang called 2026 the "ChatGPT moment of Physical AI". ICRA researchers in Vienna are presenting this week systems that were still science fiction three years ago. Yet no humanoid robot can reliably retrieve a glass from a dishwasher today. How far apart are promises and reality — and what still needs to happen?
1 June 2026
Nvidia has chosen Unitree as the hardware partner for its new humanoid system — and ETH Zurich is on the customer list, alongside Stanford and UC San Diego. Four European companies in the global robotics top 100 are based in the greater Zurich area. What's behind this location advantage, and what does it mean that the Unitree H2 is available for purchase starting in October?
1 June 2026
BMW has produced over 30,000 vehicles with two Figure-02 robots. Japan Airlines sends Unitree robots to handle luggage. What's happening in factory halls today is laying the groundwork for robots to help at home someday — but the path there is longer than the industry likes to admit.
1 June 2026
Humanoids are in the spotlight – but what can they really do today? A sober assessment between marketing promises and actual benefits.
28 May 2026
Humanoids, robot arms, mobile platforms, or components – robotics comes in many forms. This overview helps you find the right category for your project.
25 May 2026
When buying expensive robots, trust is everything. The Escrow service holds the money back until both parties confirm the handover – making fraud virtually impossible.
22 May 2026
A well-crafted listing sells almost on its own. With the right photos, an honest condition description, and the right pricing strategy, you'll get the maximum value from your robot.
20 May 2026
What really matters when purchasing a robot – from needs analysis through budget and warranty to secure transaction handling. A practical introduction for beginners and professionals.