Figure 03 Logs 30,000 BMWs at Spartanburg as Unitree IPO Reroutes Global Robotics Capital

Figure AI's third-generation humanoid robot, Figure 03, has now logged more than 60 days of continuous duty at BMW Group's Spartanburg, South Carolina assembly plant, performing 24/7 sorting and logistics work in Workshop 52 alongside its predecessor Figure 02, the company confirmed this week. The revelation — coming the same week Unitree priced its $904 million Shanghai IPO — sets up a stark capital-versus-deployment contrast that will define the humanoid robotics race through 2027.

Figure 03 at Spartanburg

Figure 03 arrived at Spartanburg on June 30 with three predecessors — Figure 02 units named Bob, Frank and Gary — already in service. The Genesis platform of Figure 02 reportedly contributed to producing 30,000 BMW vehicles before Figure 03 took over the most demanding sorting tasks. Compared to its predecessor, Figure 03 has 10 Gbps millimeter-wave communication for fleet-level coordination, faster dynamic whole-body control, and improved manipulation precision. "BMW Spartanburg will begin local production of the iX5 by year-end, and we're seeing Figure 03 deliver throughput gains we couldn't have modeled in simulation," Figure CEO Brett Adcock said in a July statement CNBC cited.

Unitree's IPO Resets the Curve

Meanwhile, Unitree's $904 million Shanghai IPO at a roughly $9 billion valuation marks the first time a Chinese humanoid robot manufacturer has tapped public markets. The company shipped more humanoid units in 2025 than any other maker, with its G1 priced at $16,000 on Amazon — orders of magnitude below Figure's $39 billion valuation, 1X's $10 billion, and Apptronik's $5.5 billion. The gap between valuation and shipped units is now the defining tension in the sector: capital is concentrating in Silicon Valley, but production is concentrating in Hangzhou.

What to Watch

Two questions will define the next 12 months. First, whether Figure's $39 billion valuation translates to sustained commercial moats as Unitree's lower-cost G1 lands in U.S. distribution channels. Second, whether the Western humanoids — Figure 03 at BMW, Tesla Optimus in Gigafactories, Apptronik in Mercedes pilots — can demonstrate unit economics that justify their premium prices. The first company to prove a robot "earns its own depreciation" will set the industry's price umbrella for the next decade.