Why you are seeing robots everywhere on social media

The stars of these videos are usually the Unitree G1, a four-foot-tall robot produced by a Chinese company. While it is designed to be a sophisticated piece of technology, it has gained fame not for doing chores, but for being a content creator. People buy these robots for between $13,500 and $66,000, connect them to a large language model — a system trained on massive amounts of text to mimic human conversation — and take them out in public. The robots generate interest, gather millions of views online, and are now being hired to make appearances at nightclubs and corporate parties.

While these robots look like they are acting on their own, the experience is actually a mix of automation and manual control. The talking part is powered by software that processes speech and generates answers, allowing the robot to chat with passersby. However, the movement is a different story. Even though the robot is built to navigate and move independently, the owners of these influencer robots often use teleoperation. This means they are literally steering the robot's physical actions in real-time, often to avoid accidents or to perform specific gestures like waving or dancing. The robot provides the physical presence and the voice, but the human owner usually provides the decision-making and the choreography.

The rise of these robot influencers highlights a divide in the robotics world. We are currently in a phase where humanoid robots are becoming affordable enough for hobbyists to own, yet they are still far from being useful, autonomous assistants. For now, the most profitable use for this technology is not working on an assembly line or helping around the house, but acting as a digital spectacle. As countries begin to restrict the import of these machines due to security concerns, we are left with a strange reality: the robots are here, they can talk, and they can dance, but they are still waiting for their first real job.