Embodied AI Hardware Cannot Be Sold "by the Pound"

The article rebuts the judgment that embodied AI hardware will inevitably become cheap and that all value will accrue to the "brain," arguing that the value of complete-machine makers should not be reduced to a bill of materials. It cites moves including Unitree Technology directing about 2.022 billion yuan of its roughly 4.202 billion yuan in fundraising toward model R&D, Songyan Power launching Scalabot and releasing its first world model, and Boston Dynamics appointing Rohit Prasad as CEO, showing that complete-machine makers are catching up on AI capabilities. The author proposes reassessing hardware value on three levels: businesses already underway, capabilities accumulated through delivery, and future expansion.