美国迎来了首家纯人形机器人上市公司。这是对一个尚不存在的市场的押注。
The US has its first publicly traded pure-play humanoid robotics firm. It’s a bet on a market that doesn’t exist yet.
Agility于周四通过SPAC合并上市，属于一批希望实现全球工厂自动化、并与中国快速增长的同类企业竞争的美国人形机器人制造商之一。
Agility, which went public on Thursday through a SPAC merger, is among a group of US humanoid makers that want to automate the world’s factories and compete with China’s fast-growing sector.
中国的宇树科技（Unitree）以远低于美国竞争对手的价格销售机器人，于8月在上海上市，此后其估值下跌，投资者质疑实际需求是否与炒作相匹配。
China’s Unitree, which sells robots for much less than American rivals, listed in Shanghai in August and has since seen its value fall, as investors question whether actual demand matches the hype.
Agility首席执行官Peggy Johnson对Semafor表示：“市场环境充满挑战，但我们资金充裕。”此次合并对该公司的估值约为25亿美元，其最新款机器人已获得3亿美元订单，不过这些订单来自单一（未披露）客户。
“Challenging market out there, but we’re well capitalized,” Agility CEO Peggy Johnson told Semafor. The merger valued the company at about $2.5 billion, and it has $300 million in orders for its newest robot, though they come from a single (undisclosed) customer.
Agility高度重视安全性，这有充分理由：目前人形机器人若无第三方认证，保险公司不予承保，因此只能在物理屏障后方的工厂内运行。其最新款Digit 5设计为可在人员附近作业，有望于明年获得认证。
Agility puts a big focus on safety, and for good reason: Humanoids currently can’t operate in a factory unless they’re behind physical barriers, because insurers won’t cover them without third-party certification. Its latest model, Digit 5, is designed to work in proximity to people and could be certified next year.
尽管如此，Agility及整个行业仍需弄清：一个足够安全的机器人，是否也足够灵活而值得投入？该公司首席机器人官上月撰文称，虽然他认为这种权衡是必要的，但“Digit 5感觉更像叉车，而非我最初想打造的优雅人形机器人”，并补充道：“我无法爱上Digit 5。”—— J.D. Capelouto
Still, Agility and the broader industry will have to figure out whether a robot that’s safe enough is also nimble enough to be worth it: The company’s chief robot officer wrote last month that while he thinks the trade-off is necessary, “Digit 5 feels more like a forklift than the graceful humanoid I set out to build,” adding: “I cannot love Digit 5.”— J.D. Capelouto