Eight Unitree Humanoid Robots and Dancer Yufei Wu Stunned the AGT Judges With Rhythm and Precision

Yufei Wu, also known as Flying Bug, dominated the America’s Got Talent stage from the start of season 21, which aired on June 2. At just 26 years old, he began with a solo dance to Lady Gaga’s Abracadabra, a high-energy song to dance to.

Next thing you know, eight Unitree G1 humanoid robots are casually striding onto the stage, all in perfect formation and as if they own the place. Then they blend right into the choreography, like if they’ve been doing it for years, keeping perfect time with Wu from the start and never missing a beat. Three of the robots performed somersaults right on the stage floor, landing precisely with no wobble and no need for intricate footwork to catch themselves. The crowd went wild as the robots demonstrated their agility and control.

Wu was dancing right in the middle of the group the entire time, flicking his hands about in all these cues that appeared to be key aspects of the routine, and those robots just nailed it every time, on time. Even better, they kept their beady small robot eyes fixed on the judges throughout the play, giving it a weird and fascinating vibe.

Simon Cowell is the first to weigh in, saying “that was brilliant” and commenting on the mechanical eyes staring at him. Sofia Vergara adds that she’s never seen anything like this before because the robots felt like watching real people dance. Mel B found the entire situation fascinating, but also a little freaky how well everything all clicked together. She wonders who the robots are and how smart they are, and then learns that one of them reacted to Jackie and gave her some Kung Fu moves for good measure.

All four judges voted yes, and the act moved to the next round. There was no golden buzzer this time, but many people who saw the clip online complained that it should have had one. This performance demonstrated how far we’ve come in terms of enabling humanoid robots to collaborate and interact with people on live stage circumstances. Unitree’s G1 models performed an entire dance performance as well as some stunning acrobatics, all while staying perfectly in sync with a live artist.

We’d seen other robot acts on the program before, such as the Boston Dynamics dogs, who made it to the quarterfinals last season before being eliminated, but this was something altogether different. Yufei Wu viewed this as an opportunity to combine his dance skills with cutting-edge Chinese technology, presenting something altogether new to the AGT audience.