After SpaceX, what now for all the robot IPOs?
And what happens when activists want to run robots out of town?
First came the robots. Then came the cameras. That’s when this Colorado mountain town had enough.
via The Trust Project and The Colorado Sun
First, it was the robots. They were trundling along sidewalks in Paonia last summer gathering data on how accommodating those thoroughfares were for people with disabilities. The wandering robots took townspeople by complete surprise.
Curious about the robot? It was a Dax ADA robot, an urban service robot used to check sidewalk compliance from Oregon company Daxbot. Daxbot also makes security robots and in 2022 ran a successful crowdfunding investment campaign on Start Engine which raised almost $500k.
Then came the surveillance cameras mounted on poles and walls last fall. They were capturing those doing business at the town hall, coming and going from the town’s water plant, and dancing in front of the town park’s bandstand. Even those with impressive Western swing moves weren’t happy to unknowingly be caught on camera.
What was up with all these high-tech, data-scooping devices in Paonia, an agriculture-centric town of 1,500 in the North Fork Valley?
The answer to that isn’t clear. But it has prompted the most strife to hit Paonia since two decades ago when mosquito fogging ignited a controversy that culminated in the bombing of the town’s mosquito-control building.
The controversy has gotten so convoluted and heated that some town residents jokingly want robots to take over running the town. Once conflict starts over the roll out of technology, it can quickly spread to every type of tech and every change. It can also lead to death threats, property destruction and political turmoil.
Reuters: 46 robotics IPOs in pipeline for Hong Kong alone, more to follow
HONG KONG, June 11 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Unitree Robotics’ upcoming Shanghai IPO is meant to showcase China’s pioneering industry. Instead, the company led by Wang Xingxing lays bare the risks facing manufacturers and investors.
Formally known as Yushu Technology, the group was the world’s largest humanoid-robot maker by sales last year. Its dancing robots gained nationwide fame after performing at the 2025 Spring Festival television gala, watched by 17 million viewers. Weeks later, the then 34-year-old Wang nabbed a coveted front-row seat at a summit hosted by President Xi Jinping.
The bet is that robots will eventually replace workers in factories, homes and elsewhere. Morgan Stanley analysts forecast China will have around 300 million humanoids in use by 2050. That would require manufacturers like Unitree, which sold just 5,500 machines last year, to vastly boost production.
That helps explain why the decade-old business is aiming for a punchy valuation of $6.2 billion, as reported by IFR. Unitree expects first-half net profit attributable to shareholders of up to 283 million yuan ($42 million), excluding one-offs. On an annualised basis, that implies an eye-raising price-to-earnings multiple of 74 times. Listed rivals like the $7.6 billion UBtech Robotics (9880.HK), opens new tab and smaller Shenzhen Dobot (2432.HK), opens new tab remain in the red.
But for now tech is a hurdle: even relatively sophisticated models lack the necessary dexterity and intelligence for basic tasks outside of controlled environments, like pouring a glass of water or plugging in a cable. Unitree’s IPO prospectus readily acknowledges that so far there are limited commercial applications for its four-legged “dogs” and humanoids. Scientific research and education account for the bulk of sales.
Moreover, competition is intensifying. Unitree’s first-quarter adjusted net profit tumbled 53%, to 40 million yuan, from a year ago even though sales rose 68% in the same period. The company blames higher research and development costs, which totaled a tenth of revenue, plus price cuts to its models as new rivals crowd in.
Price wars look imminent. There are at least 46 robotics, opens new tab companies in the IPO pipeline for Hong Kong alone, according to Bloomberg. Many more could follow. China has over 450,000, opens new tab registered companies in the sector, state media reported last year. It’s a pattern that is playing out in other tech-driven industries, from autos to AI. Wang’s robots already face a reckoning.
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The Paonia story and the robotics IPO wave may look unrelated, but they point to the same structural issue: robotics is moving faster than public consent, governance, and deployment literacy. A sidewalk robot collecting accessibility data can serve a public good. But if people discover it after the fact, the story quickly becomes surveillance, not inclusion. For robotics companies, especially those entering public spaces or human-contact environments, trust is no longer a communications layer. It is part of the product architecture. The next winners will not be those with the most impressive machines alone. They will be the ones that can answer: who authorised deployment, what data is collected, who benefits, what risks are bounded, and when should the system defer to humans? Autonomy without social licence is not scale. It is friction waiting to compound.
People become angry not because of change, but when change comes to them from outside their community, from companies that do not work through the government public meeting process of town halls and city council meetings, they become immediately suspicious. People expect to be asked first if they think the change in question is a good thing or not. This is usually accomplished through local votes of the public involved. Anyone who doesn't utilize these public tools usually has an ulterior motive. When members of the community discover that, change becomes nearly impossible, no matter how good the idea might have been. Moral of the story: Use the public's tools. They were created to protect the public. If you have a pure motive for change, they are much more likely to accept it after public discourse than having a surprise rammed down their throats.