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   UBTech strikes deal with China to assist at border crossings, and this isn't    
   a dystopian nightmare at all   
      
   Date:   
   Thu, 27 Nov 2025 14:09:17 +0000   
      
   Description:   
   UBTech Walker S2, one of the first mass-produced humanoid robots, is about to   
   start a border patrol job in China. What does this mean for humanity?   
      
   FULL STORY   
   ======================================================================   
      
   Just weeks after UBTech unveiled one of the most unintentionally terrifying   
   humanoid robot videos on YouTube, the company has announced one of the Walker   
   S2 android's first jobs, working the border crossing between China and   
   Vietnam.   
      
   As reported by SCMP , UBTech just secured a huge contract ($37M in US    
   dollars) with a Chinese province that shares its border with Vietnam.    
      
   The robot, which can swap its own battery out of its back in under 3 minutes,   
   will have a full complement of duties, including assisting in everything from   
   patrols to traveler guidance and logistics.    
      
   You may have already seen UBTech Walker S2. It was featured in the "mass   
   production and Delivery" YouTube video that looked like it was copied    
   straight out of the 2004 Will Smith movie, I, Robot .    
      
   In the video, a hanger reveals a virtual army of Walker S2 robots who look,   
   move, and march in unison into waiting cargo containers. Every image is   
   reminiscent of scenes from the film in which a trailer blocks the path of    
   Will Smith's self-driving car, and the giant door rolls up to reveal hundreds   
   of mass-produced humanoid robots that jump off their perch and attack. Even   
   the   
   robots in cargo containers remind me of other scenes from the film.    
      
   For UBTech, though, the moment was a point of pride as it wrote in the    
   YouTube caption, "Huge milestone achieved! Worlds first mass delivery of   
   humanoid robots has completed! Hundreds of UBTECH Walker S2 have been   
   delivered   
   to our partners. The future of industrial automation is here. March  forward to   
   transformation!"    
      
   Now it seems that many of these ready-to-go industrial robots will be   
   delivered, in part, to the Chinese/Vietnam border.    
      
   UBTech Walker S2 is just one of many humanoid robots in the news. There's the   
   Time Magazine cover model Figure 03 , and the 1X Neo Beta , that, while still   
   months from mass delivery, is being advertised as a ready-to-go $20,000 home   
   helper and companion.    
      
   While we don't know how much the UBTech Walker S2 costs, we do have some    
   specs on the 5 ft, 7-inch tall, 154-pound bot. It can walk at up to 4mph,   
   features a pair of dexterous hands with tactile sensors, and an onboard LLM   
   for   
   voice communication through its built-in microphones and speakers.    
      
   There is something vaguely dystopian about a passionless army of humanoid   
   robots working border duties, and one can only imagine that success in China   
   could inspire humanoid robotic companies to try and sell their robots to    
   other border management operations.    
      
   However, since robots are not guided by feelings or prejudices, perhaps they   
   might be more reasonable about border-crossing activities. That, though, may   
   be   
   wishful thinking.    
      
   What is certain is that government agencies and industries are increasingly   
   interested in AI and automation to take on repetitive and difficult tasks.    
      
   SCMP reports that UBTech plans to deliver 500 Walker S2 robots by the end of   
   2025 and 10,000 by 2027.    
      
   A future where humanoid robots are at work in the home, factories, stores,    
   the office, and at borders is no longer hard to imagine. Surely, things will   
   turn out better than they did in I,Robot .    
      
   ======================================================================   
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.techradar.com/ai-platforms-assistants/ubtech-strikes-deal-with-chi   
   na-to-assist-at-border-crossings-and-this-isnt-a-dystopian-nightmare-at-all   
      
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