
This Week in Humanoid Robot News: July 27–August 3, 2026
The FCC put foreign-made humanoids and quadrupeds on its Covered List, Unitree launched a 4.2 billion yuan Shanghai IPO two days later, and Gemini Robotics 2 took control of the whole body.
RoboZaps Blog
Practical coverage for people tracking commercial humanoid robots — verified specs, real pricing, deployment evidence, and the companies building embodied AI.
137 articles · 7 categories · Updated Aug 2, 2026

The FCC put foreign-made humanoids and quadrupeds on its Covered List, Unitree launched a 4.2 billion yuan Shanghai IPO two days later, and Gemini Robotics 2 took control of the whole body.

Humanoid robots vs cobots compared by task fit, mobility, safety, cost, deployment maturity and real models in the RoboZaps database.

The FCC blocked new authorizations for foreign-made humanoids and robot dogs on 28 July 2026. Every model already authorized before that date stays legal. This page tracks which robots hold a pre-ban FCC authorization, which are blocked, and what changes as Conditional Approvals are granted.

The FCC has blocked approval of new or previously unauthorized foreign-made humanoids, robot dogs and AMRs. Here is what it means for Unitree and US buyers.

Two numbers frame the honest answer, and the distance between them is measured in years, not months.

Foundation says its announced Phantom MK-2 will use AMD Ryzen AI Embedded X100—and disclosed an approximately $100,000-a-year industrial lease for Phantom MK-1.

UBTECH says it has more than 13,000 orders for its humanlike companion robots. We checked the prices, preorder terms, three U1 models and what buyers still do not know.
Every major humanoid shipping or about to ship — verified specs, price evidence, and a clear verdict.

KEYi's Loona Petbot Premium is $499 (list $529) in July 2026 with GPT-4o chat and no subscription — the best personality-per-dollar robot pet, with cloud-dependency caveats KEYi's marketing skips.

Jennie, the Jim Henson-designed Labrador puppy robot for seniors with dementia, is still waitlist-only in July 2026: ~$1,500 cited, late-2026 shipping target, tens of thousands waiting. The honest status and what to buy meanwhile.

Spot has no public price in 2026 — the $74,500 figure died years ago. Real configured units ran $150k-$375k in public records. Specs, Orbit software, police deployments, and the honest Unitree comparison.
Head-to-head matchups and ranked shortlists for buyers narrowing a decision.
Market analysis, adoption economics, and clearly labeled opinion.

A review of 74 RoboZaps listings found 33 current, commercially addressable bipedal families. Twenty-nine target work or development; only one full-size model targets the home.

No Boston Dynamics robot has a public price. Atlas entered production in 2026, Spot has 1,500+ deployed at $150k-$375k per public records, Stretch works warehouses — and Hyundai owns it all. The buyable truth behind the viral videos.

Almost every humanoid maker is private. What's tradable today (UBTech, the Tesla/NVIDIA/Hyundai proxies), the Unitree and Agility listings coming in 2026, the pre-IPO share traps Figure just disavowed, and the Vicarious cautionary tale.
Funding, manufacturing, partnerships, and deployment announcements — dated and sourced.