Fact check: Are China's robot soldiers just AI fakes?

DW News · Feb 22, 2026 · Collected from RSS

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A dozen humanoid robots stand in front of a snow-covered mountain range. They hold machine guns and run across a shooting range, kneeling down to shoot at targets and change magazines, then maneuvering through an obstacle course. The setting for these scenes in a 48-second video currently circulating on social media is supposedly China, with the national flag flying in the background. But is it real? In many languages, such as Turkish shown here, the claim spread that the video shows a real military exercise in ChinaImage: X Claim: "China has released a video of shooting drills involving Terminator-like robots," says a post on X that has been viewed 375,000 times. Another poststates: "China deployed 10,000+ robotic soldiers that will reduce the human cost if China-Taiwan war breakouts in 2027." Still other posts refer to the video as a "Unitree Robotics robot shooting test," including one on X with more than 1.5 million views. The video has been shared with similar claims in many other languages, including Arabic, French, Russian, Spanish, Turkish, Portuguese, Georgian, and Vietnamese. DW Fact Check: Fake The robots in the video are based on the G1 model by Chinese company Unitree Robotics. But the scenes were clearly created using artificial intelligence. While some users have at least suggested that the video could be AI-generated, they have continued to post it with false claims. Using a reverse image search of a still image from the video, DW Fact Check found a higher-resolution, slightly shorter version on YouTube that reveals more details. Frame-by-frame analysis revealed several AI-typical inconsistencies that could not have been created in the editing process. In the middle of the video, a robot reloads a magazine. Two seconds later, the magazine has disappeared without a trace under the rifle barrel. First, the robot reloads — but when it continues running, the magazine is missing from under the weapon Image: X A person can be seen giving a shooting order while holding a radio in one hand. When he raises his hand, it merges with the device to form a single mass. Two cars in the background are deformed and appear to be fused together. Typical AI errors: Hands often appear deformed in individual frames, and objects in the background merge unnaturally—such as the cars in the image on the rightImage: X A robot moves through a stack of sandbags like a ghost, without stepping over them. The lettering on the robot's chest disappears repeatedly and only partially resembles the company name "Unitree" where it typically appears on the real G1 model. On the left, a real photo of a G1 robot with the company name Unitree on its chest. On the right, two examples from the AI video, where the name clearly differsImage: imago / X Philipp Cachee, an expert in forensic ballistics, also points out logical errors in the video. "There is no shell ejection in at least two places, and at 0:23, an empty magazine is loaded into the weapon," he said, concluding that it is "almost certainly" an AI-generated video. The video is in fact labeled as such on on Bilibili, a video platform popular in China where it has also been uploaded. Dancing robots Unitree Robotics specializes in the development and production of four-legged and humanoid robots. DW contacted the company about the video, but these questions remained unanswered at the time of publication. On its English website, the company states that it is known for its civilian robots. Unitree's social media profiles also highlight the complex movements its robots can now master, including dancing, martial arts, and moving through rough terrain. The company was recently in the media after its robots performed a choreographed routine at a Chinese New Year gala, showing off somersaults and kung fu tricks. While there has been no recent mention of weapons or military use on the company's profiles, that doesn't rule out the possibility that such tests could be underway. Nevertheless, the AI video being circulated does not portray a real exercise with Unitree robots. A similar video makes a stir Another video has also recently spread on social media worldwide, this time showing shooting exercises by humanoid robots, together with four-legged robots among ruined houses. Also AI: These humanoid robots with firearms, accompanied by four-legged robots and drones in battle among ruinsImage: X Claim: "ITS REAL!!! Chinese Unitree humanoids are now firing Type 191 Rifles!" claims a user on X, in a post viewed more than 680,000 times in less than a day. "Training kung fu robots to use weapons," writes another. In French, a Facebook user shared both videos at the same time, emphasizing that they are not AI. The video has also been shared in Spanish, Arabic, Turkish, and Korean — all without any reference to AI. DW Fact Check: Fake The video bears a watermark that leads back to the Bilibili platform, where it was posted by the same user who shared the first video with the note: "Tactical assault exercise by a Unitree robot squad, AI-generated, video content is for entertainment purposes only." A close look at this video also shows inconsistencies that suggest AI. A target being shot at appears out of nowhere at 0:33, and at 0:38, one of the robots pulls a leg through the solid fence while jumping over it. This video was edited before it was distributed on other networks. A logo and text elements were added to make it look like a television report by state channel CCTV Military. But the logo is missing characters. The text added at the bottom of the video announces: "Expert analysis — Military report: New high-tech 'companions' in action! Visit to the tactical training ground for human-machine cooperation." While this may make sense, the text inserted on the video continues with a jumble of keywords, which is unusual for a real media report. Robots join civic life Even if these videos of shooting robots are AI-generated, China is still on the way to using humanoid robots in everyday life, including in the support security forces. Just under a year ago, the state-run English-language Chinese broadcaster CGTN reported that a humanoid robot was patrolling the city of Shenzhen alongside police officers. In several major Chinese cities, such as Wuhan and Shanghai, such robots are already controlling traffic or being trained to do so. Humanoids: South Korea charts an unusual robotics pathTo view this video please enable JavaScript, and consider upgrading to a web browser that supports HTML5 video This article was originally written in German. Contributors: Daniel Ebertz, Juan Ju, Shitao Li