Core Matter

Topics

Five questions, and the current answer.

Each page below holds the standing answer to one question about the Physical AI stack, with provenance on every figure and links to every piece of research behind it. These pages are updated when new work lands rather than republished, so the answer here is the current one.

  1. Topic

    6 pieces

    What does a humanoid robot cost to build?

    The bill of materials, subsystem by subsystem: what each layer costs as a share of the whole, which layers have a domestic alternative, and what the public filings say about price.

    40–60% Actuation share of humanoid BOM cost65% Domestic content the FCC rule requires, rising to 75% in 2029Rmb61bn Unitree market capitalisation at IPO pricing, 6 August 2026

  2. Topic

    6 pieces

    Who supplies humanoid actuators and reducers?

    The joint is the most expensive thing in the robot and the hardest to second-source. Who makes the motor, the reducer and the screw, where those lines physically sit, and which parts have no domestic producer at all.

    40–60% Actuation share of humanoid BOM cost0 US volume producers of strain-wave reducers>50% Share of Humanoid's wheeled-platform actuator demand Schaeffler supplies through 2031

  3. Topic

    3 pieces

    What does a dexterous robot hand cost, and why is it hard to build?

    The hand is the binding constraint on humanoid usefulness. Actuation architectures and their tradeoffs, how to read a spec sheet that vendors write to flatter their design, and where value sits in the hand stack.

    72.8% Unitree humanoids shipped in 2025 with no hand at all~60% Share of Optimus engineering difficulty attributed to forearm and hand1–2M Unloaded open-close cycles, current top of the industry

  4. Topic

    8 pieces

    How exposed is the US robotics supply chain to Chinese components?

    Three separate US measures now touch Chinese robotics, and they work differently. What each one actually restricts, which BOM layers carry the exposure, and what buyers do about it.

    65% Domestic content required under the FCC test, rising to 75% in 2029134 → 188 Firms on the DoD 1260H list after the 8 June 2026 update28 Jul 2026 FCC cutoff date. Earlier authorizations are not affected

  5. Topic

    7 pieces

    Which robot companies are shipping units, and which are shipping demos?

    Shipment counts, revenue by application, and field metrics from operators running fleets. The gap between a demo video and a deployment, measured where the numbers exist.

    73.6% Unitree humanoid revenue from research and education, Jan–Sep 20259.0% Unitree humanoid revenue labelled industry application90.2% → 98% Xiaomi Robotics-0 success rate on a screw station after four months on line

Research access

Get new research when it publishes

Component economics, supply-chain structure, and deployment analysis, built from filings, datasheets and direct factory pricing.

Every figure on these pages is labelled by provenance. Filing-grade means it comes from a regulatory filing. Company-claimed means the company stated it. Third-party means a tracker, retail listing, teardown, or Core Matter estimate.