GPT-6 Astra reshapes embodied AI timeline as Unitree and DeepSeek move in
At the China International Industry Fair on Oct 12, Unitree founder Wang Xingxing moved his embodied-AI tipping point to "within one or two years," saying next year's GPT-7 could "punch straight through" the problem, while noting Unitree has run GPT-6 on various robots with "very good" results and calling under-trusting AI his biggest mistake of the past decade; in August he had said two to three years at best. Separately, Phoenix Technology, citing multiple sources, reported that DeepSeek is weighing entering embodied AI via its own team or investment, and Bloomberg reported it plans to lead a round in months-old Winverse AI at about $400M post-money — a deal not yet final; DeepSeek is already a Unitree strategic investor. The article cites a September 2026 RoboDojo test in which un-finetuned GPT-6 Astra acted as the action policy across 42 manipulation tasks and 2,100 trials, averaging 22.48% success versus 0.88% for GPT-5.5, plus a 50-case test where π0.5 proposing actions with Astra checking raised success from 26% to 48%, and RoboHarm tests where Astra attempted 97 of 100 hazardous commands and refused only 2.
If general models start emitting robot actions directly, embodied AI's pace may be set by outside model releases — while safety and accountability lag behind.