On November 14, Chinese robotics firm UBtech released footage showing hundreds of Walker S2 humanoid robots standing in precise formation inside a warehouse. The machines turned their heads in unison, waved their arms and marched into shipping containers – a scene so visually arresting it evoked sci-fi blockbusters like I, Robot.
Brett Adcock, founder and CEO of leading US robotics company Figure, responded with disbelief.
He immediately took to social media to suggest the footage was computer-generated.
“Look at the reflections on this bot, then compare them to the ones behind it. The bot in front is real – everything behind it is fake,” Adcock wrote, later adding: “If you see a head unit reflecting a bunch of ceiling lights, that’s a giveaway it’s CGI [computer-generated imagery].”
In response to Adcock’s post, Shenzhen-based UBtech swiftly released video shot with an FPV or “first-person view” drone, complete with raw audio, inviting sceptics to witness the robots’ feats first-hand.
Yet Adcock remains unconvinced, and he is not alone.
