From Embodied AI to AI Agents, Multiple Unity Ventures Portfolio Companies Shine at 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference
Unity Ventures' AI Companies Shine at WAIC
From Talos, the bronze giant of Greek mythology — the first "robot" to walk the earth — to today, humanity's imagination of AI and robotics has spanned millennia.
Our expectations for AI and machine intelligence erupted this July. The 2025 World Artificial Intelligence Conference (WAIC) may have been the most buzzed-about AI carnival in recent years. With over 800 companies exhibiting, it set a new record. Embodied Artificial Intelligence and Agent dominated the conversation, drawing massive crowds.
Unity Ventures brought its portfolio companies — Independent Variable Robotics, Noetix Robotics, ULS Robotics, LynkSoul, and D-Robotics — to WAIC, where they unveiled new products and shared the latest trends. Here are the highlights from the floor.
01
Unity Ventures Founder Xiao Wang: Bullish on "Vertical Scenarios + Proprietary Data"
Xiao Wang, Founder of Unity Ventures
AI is currently transitioning from the "first half" of rapid technological breakthroughs to the "second half" of industrial integration. Unity Ventures began betting on the AI application layer before ChatGPT went viral. In the first half of 2025 alone, it made nearly 20 investments, more than half of them AI-related — and most as the first institutional investor.
On the morning of the 28th, Unity Ventures founder Xiao Wang spoke at the LightSource Capital AI Industry Integration Forum, stating that Unity is optimistic about entrepreneurial opportunities arising from "vertical scenarios + proprietary data." The key lies in defining the scenario and whether it generates valuable data. In domains dominated by public data, any first-mover advantage by application-layer companies can quickly be eroded by large model providers. In relatively vertical scenarios capable of generating proprietary data, application companies can continuously feed their models with private domain data regardless of how foundational models evolve — improving model capabilities as their user base grows and building defensible moats.
Opportunities exist in fields rich with proprietary data, such as executive search, customer service, sales, and healthcare. B2B service capabilities are currently at an inflection point, and some of Unity's AI portfolio companies have already reached nine-figure RMB revenues. Additionally, China's abundance of scenarios creates opportunities for combining large models with hardware — home appliances, household robots, and other devices can all be reimagined through the lens of large models.
The current AI era has produced a wave of young founders. Unity has always prioritized high-potential early-stage projects by young entrepreneurs. Future success depends on the speed of consensus formation, the founder's growth rate, and the market size of the sector itself. During periods of technological turbulence, young people carry no baggage of historical experience — if they pick the right track, they may run faster.
Unity began laying the groundwork for AI ten years ago, gradually forming a judgment framework through persistent tracking of technical paths and abstracting an investment "large model" of its own. As AI penetrates different industries, Unity migrates across sectors, applying its underlying investment model to new arenas.
02
Independent Variable Robotics' Multi-Robot Swarm Makes Sachets and Tidies Up On-Site
Independent Variable Robotics is among the earliest Chinese companies to pursue a fully end-to-end approach to general-purpose embodied intelligence large models. At WAIC, it demonstrated general-purpose robots powered by its self-developed end-to-end embodied intelligence model.
The robot "Xiaoliang" learned to autonomously make sachets within just a few days. It could pick corresponding colored pouches and fragrant filling inserts based on audience preferences, attach WAIC-logo pins to the sachet surfaces, and precisely hand the finished products to visitors.
In the household tidying zone, the robot "Xiaobai" could pick up discarded paper balls, beverage bottles, and plastic bags from the floor through semantic navigation — without any prior environmental modeling. Once the floor was clean, it could also collect clothes piled in arbitrary states at arbitrary positions on the sofa and place them into a laundry basket.
"Xiaobai" and "Xiaoliang" formed a multi-robot intelligent swarm, completing entire long-sequence complex operations through the model — achieving autonomous perception, decision-making, and high-precision manipulation in open, stochastic environments. This was exceedingly rare to witness live at WAIC.
Additionally, Independent Variable Robotics' self-developed wheeled dual-arm humanoid robot "Quantum 2" made its public debut. Featuring a wheeled chassis and humanoid 7-DOF arms, it boasts up to 62 degrees of freedom across its entire body, with flexible operation covering a 0–2 meter workspace capable of executing various complex demonstrations.
03
Noetix Robotics' N2 and Xiaonuo Exhibit, Combining Skills with Emotional Interaction
Noetix Robotics focuses on humanoid robot R&D and manufacturing. At this year's WAIC, it showcased two flagship products: the high-dynamic motion platform N2 and the bionic emotional robot "Xiaonuo," demonstrating breakthrough capabilities across humanoid robot motion control and human-robot interaction.
N2 can run, backflip, dance, and hop on one leg across diverse indoor and outdoor terrains. A runner-up in a humanoid robot marathon competition, it combines high-efficiency actuation, environmental adaptability, and stable endurance — serving as a general-purpose motion platform for future home and service scenarios.
"Xiaonuo" features real-time facial expression replication and natural language interaction, supporting precise recognition and mimicry of human emotional changes. This significantly enhances the emotional authenticity and affinity of human-robot communication, making it an ideal platform for smart homes, educational companionship, and eldercare assistance.
04
ULS Robotics' First Consumer Exoskeleton Becomes a Hot "Photo-Op Item"
On the eve of WAIC, ULS Robotics launched its first consumer product, the VIATRIX range-extended powered exoskeleton, marking its entry into the civilian exoskeleton market.
At the exhibition, the VIATRIX dynamic demonstration area drew crowds eager to watch and try. Unlike the rigid feel of traditional exoskeletons, the VIATRIX's floating hip joint architecture paired with leg motor design enabled fluid, natural movement while worn.
ULS's self-developed automotive-grade responsive motors ensure millisecond-precise power delivery. With 46Nm of combined leg power and AI gait algorithms, users experience enhanced leg strength and directly reduced physical exertion. The 25km ultra-long range, paired with quick-swap battery design, eliminates "range anxiety" entirely.
The VIATRIX's personalized color schemes also turned heads, giving the exoskeleton fashion appeal alongside practicality — its bold, eye-catching palette making it a popular "photo-op item" at the booth.
05
Gaming at WAIC? HakkoAI's 1.0 Preview Version
LynkSoul brought the PC 1.0 preview version of HakkoAI to WAIC, letting attendees experience the latest in AI-powered gaming companionship.
HakkoAI is a leading product in the AI-Gaming space, using advanced self-developed LLMs to create diverse companion characters including 2D IP figures, avatars of top content creators, and virtual streamers. It remembers players' gaming experiences, becoming an AI gaming buddy that plays with you and accompanies you through life.
Since its test release in 2024, 8 million players worldwide have gamed alongside HakkoAI companions. The product currently supports recognition of thousands of game scenarios across dozens of titles.
After accumulating shared gaming memories with players, the AI companion can also watch shows with you, work alongside you, and even travel with you via a mobile app — an AI companion in your pocket, for life together.
06
D-Robotics Debuts at WAIC, Wins SAIL Star Award
D-Robotics received the WAIC SAIL Star Award and showcased its exploration and innovative applications across diverse scenarios at the conference.
End-to-end VLA debut: With a single command — "Bring me the water" — the RDK S100 × Qinglong robot completed the full closed loop from speech to vision to grasping, fast, accurate, and steady;
X-ray vision: The Senyun Vision GMSL2 camera + RDK S100 developer kit lets robots see through complex scenes, instantly upgrading 3D perception;
Brain-body coordination: Vbot's "Datou" intelligent companion robot leverages the RDK S100's powerful inference for autonomous following and nimble obstacle avoidance — maximum默契;
Edge-cloud integration: D-Robotics partnered with Baidu to bridge on-device compute and cloud resources, slashing development barriers and boosting efficiency.
