State Capital Behind the Embodied AI Frenzy: Scrambling for Deals, Propping Up Valuations, Guessing the Future from Policy Documents

HardTech interviewed multiple investors and FAs to map how local state capital is entering the embodied AI sector and how the landscape is diverging. IT Juzi data shows that in the first half of 2026, domestic embodied AI financing events exceeded 300, up 137% year on year, with disclosed totals reaching 93.5 billion yuan; state capital participated in 42% of large deals. Interviewees said state capital typically lets market-based institutions set prices first and then follows in. After Unitree's listing, its market value halved, and tightening of the 18C rules has weakened IPO expectations for second- and third-tier players; financing pressure may be released in a concentrated way after November 2026.