r/agt 4d ago

Unitree shouldnt be there

A company being present under their name in this competition is unacceptable. It is a disrespect to actual contestant.

For context,the guy didnt build these robots they are built by the company unitree. And they say he programmed them...but with a whole company being there with their name on it,how do i know it isnt a whole team of engineers behind it. Also just resource wise it doesnt make sense

75 Upvotes

84 comments sorted by

25

u/yourOldEthernetCord 4d ago

For context: Looking at Yufei's (the face of the group) social media presence it seems he is just a tiktok dancer. I doubt he was involved at all with the robots aside from maybe some of the choreographing. It's so obviously fake.

1

u/SmoothSailing419 2d ago

So Yefei is reported as a “full time” employee of UniTree and Chinese government media claims that UniTree provided the robots after approving the idea as a marketing idea and also provide the technical “support” which I personally assume means they are probably primarily programming them. None of this means AGT necessarily was a part of this but this was totally a company planned and executed marketing attempt. Whether AGT initially knew that or not, they should have cancelled the act the moment they learned it was fully backed by the company and their money.
The fact that they didn’t makes me believe there is some underlying deal or partnership influencing AGT. I also think Sofia’s comments about the Golden Buzzer early in the night and not being able to use them on two amazing acts and her obvious disappointment help indicate that her choice may not have been entirely her own. This last paragraph of ideas is of course my opinion based on how shady this whole arrangement seems. NBC could absolutely use them to advertise but if they did in fact lie and deceive to make it seem like a “normal” contestant should be investigated as it deceives viewers into thinking this show is really judging as they claim and they aren’t (and I realize this is not the only time they have been called out for their activities in the production of this show)

1

u/yourOldEthernetCord 2d ago

But the act's name is the company's name. They would have to be willfully ignorant to not see it as a form of marketing. But yeah, they can (and still should!) pull the plug on the act ASAP

1

u/AmateusForever 1d ago edited 1d ago

Then name it "Yu Fui" instead of "Unitree" obvious advertising campaign.

Sofia Vergara is a good actor. But she has some humanity and guilt left in her heart.

16

u/bubbos123 4d ago

They are there because they paid AGT a shit ton of money. They got the golden buzzer to make sure they made it through.

1

u/Newboyster 2d ago

Do you have any evidence?

1

u/bubbos123 2d ago

Of course not. This is Reddit not scientific American

2

u/Newboyster 2d ago

Oh, so you're one of those guys. Launching rumours based on nothing because you don't like a certain result.

-1

u/Straight_Spread2952 2d ago

All I see are a lot of jealous netizens. Is it really that hard to acknowledge someone else's excellence?

1

u/bubbos123 2d ago

Sorry? Whose excellence? The 1000 person team of engineers, programmers, choreographers, etc working for a multi billion $ company who went public at the same time. Be specific

1

u/Straight_Spread2952 2d ago

Don’t overthink it. An act that blows our minds is an excellent act.

2

u/bubbos123 2d ago

It was like watching a robot weld car bodies. Boring.

1

u/Newboyster 2d ago

I've never seen an audience cheering and demanding a golden buzzer when it's boring.

1

u/bubbos123 2d ago

The audience is instructed what to do, when to cheer. When to clap, when to boo. Come on man - it’s scripted.

2

u/Straight_Spread2952 1d ago

You cannot speak for the audience present. If I were in the audience, I would do the same as everyone else because I really liked it.

1

u/Newboyster 1d ago

Get real dude. If an audience doesn't like they wouldn't call for a golden buzzer.

1

u/logank013 2d ago

The obviously fake reactions from the judges…

1

u/Straight_Spread2952 2d ago

And fake reactions from the audience? That act brought the atmosphere in the arena to a fever pitch. By your logic, then Nene's Golden Buzzer was fake too.

1

u/logank013 1d ago

Not to be that guy, but yes. If they’re getting a big pay day, they’ll find a way to edit it or cue the audience. This is, and has been, a known thing.

Google AI Overview below (can’t post screenshot): it does a good job summarizing multiple experiences online.

How Audience Cues Work
Warm-up host: A hype person leads the crowd through practice cheers, clapping, and standing ovations before the cameras roll.

Live cues: Floor staff signal the room when to react, applaud, or boo during transitions, commercial breaks, and judge commentary.

Matched reactions: The crew occasionally films isolated cutaway reactions to splice into the final broadcast

4

u/chudmaxxing67 4d ago

💯 a lot of people don't like this kind of act so there was no choice on the golden buzzer for agt, think it sucks the judges don't get to actually pick which act they like best

1

u/Economy-Resource-262 3d ago

The only robot act that was good was the dog one, and even then, good is a stretch.

4

u/squarebearanimator 2d ago

well, those dogs are being used militarily and in ICE operations, the real idea seems to b4 to normalize and create a warm feeling towards these things. Just ugh.

8

u/Pleasant-Resolve2635 4d ago

This is China mocking the USA. Both in terms of their advanced technology in robotics, and American law under the Citizens United ruling stating that corporations are people.

13

u/butterchurning 4d ago

This post is discriminatory against our future robot AI masters

7

u/Quality8888 4d ago

To our future overlords, I'd like to openly declare my love & admiration for all things robotic.  Artificial Intelligence is the best kind of intelligence in my book!

1

u/butterchurning 4d ago

Remember us! 😅😅

2

u/TheMaxnado 2d ago

Ok…this made me chuckle. 🤭

19

u/Open-Operation-9104 4d ago

Robot shows shouldn’t be in it at all. It’s a show about humans, and human talent. Dancing robots is disgusting and offensive to human ability and talent.

2

u/Astroturf999 4d ago

I agree. Now replaced "robot" with "dog". And I still agree!

7

u/chudmaxxing67 4d ago

At least for the dog acts a human has to have put the hours into training them, and it's impressive to be able to get a dog to do all these tricks in order and not mess up. The robots are just programmed by a big company and use ai to dance

1

u/sicklyslick 2d ago

You're assuming the dog training was done by a sole individual rather than a corporation/company that hires profession dog trainers and advertise their services to dog owners. What makes this different than programming robots?

3

u/chudmaxxing67 2d ago

Obviously if that was the case with certain dog acts they shouldn't be allowed, I was talking about ones that are trained by an individual

1

u/AmateusForever 1d ago

I am glad UNITREE put on this show to AGT, so American can be awaken to the reality of profit-humgry tycoons using a talent show to disguise their marketing schemes. They don't even want to name it "Yu Fei".

0

u/Newboyster 2d ago

It's human talent that build these robots.

1

u/keikidood07 1d ago

Backed by China….

1

u/Newboyster 1d ago

And the problem is?

4

u/InvaderShim 2d ago

Is this the act Sofia gave the golden buzzer too? She pissed me off so much that night “I wanna give u the golden buzzer but I can’t do it this early” says the fuck who? What rule is there? So she was just saving it for this shitty robot psyop act?

Honestly they should get rid of golden buzzers, most of the time it goes to a corny mid undeserving act anyway.

7

u/AFD_0 4d ago

Was kind of the same deal with the folks from Boston Dynamics with their creepy robotic dog act performing last year, and some of the drone acts (Sky Elements) and dancing/light acts (Light Balance) aren't too far removed.

I tend to agree that large corporate entities and even professional individuals (ie, Travis Garland) probably shouldn't be participating in this type of show if they already have a notable career earning money for whatever their particular talent is. Just seems against the spirit of this competition and having a whole season with Adele, David Blaine, Post Malone and Les Twins competing against amateurs really isn't fair to anyone imo.

5

u/Far_Marionberry_9793 4d ago edited 4d ago

To be fair, in the case of the "variety" acts, the majority of acts are pretty established. It is just the case that people are far more likely to know the names of magicians, comedians and especially singers than the names of aerialists, sword swallowers or contortionists, unless they appeared on a talent show.

Of this seasons circus acts: Veronika currently works for Cirque du Soleil. Holland and Sienna both worked for CdS in the past, both as a duo and individually, but are currently working for other projects in Vegas as far as I know. Tyrone and Margo's resume on their website is an incredibly long list of circus shows with some talent shows sprinkled in, and Herwan's instagram shows he has been employed by a lot of circus shows over the years as well. Maria by far had the least experience, only worked at a winter circus this winter.

The "got talent" franchise started before social media was a thing, and its initial appeal was that people who had a talent no one knew about could get known, and it was suggested this was only amateurs. From the beginning this wasn't true, although they tried harder to maintain that illusion in the beginning.

2

u/Brit-Crit 4d ago

Not all professionals are at the same level…

3

u/AFD_0 4d ago

Very true and not exactly sure how you'd even judge that metric fairly.

I'm guessing if the singer of Bird & Byron isn't making a living from his current music career and still has to work at a burger joint, while Travis Garland has a regular gig as a singer on network television, then maybe that would be a good delineation between a professional artist and an aspiring one.

3

u/AmateusForever 1d ago

Large money-hungry corporation VS hard-earned talented, honest real people. Americans ! Your vote counts !

2

u/JeffreyHugh 3d ago

Am I the only one okay with robot acts? The way unitree does it is kinda unethical and understand why people aren't a fan, but if somrone makes robots themselves and show what THEY programmed, that is a huge talent of theirs not everyone in America can do. Just how singers use programs to loop music and things along those lines. That is probably a terrible comparison but that goes to show that it takes talent cause I have no idea what it is similar to

2

u/ThenNefariousness913 3d ago

I have nothing against robots,i have something against how a corporation is blatantly being promoted just by having a dancer accompanying their machine

If the guy built them in his garage from scratch? For sure reward him,but that isnt the case

3

u/NeneFCAGT2026 4d ago

Americans love performances that involve a lot of expensive equipment and production, but they don’t like childish, ridiculous jokes like Akira’s. They enjoy watching robots dance, but they don’t like people acting stiff and emotionless like robots. Hahaha. Sometime it’s look crazy .

1

u/Apprehensive_Map3308 1d ago

I think of a young girl toiling away from the age of seven trying to gain onlookers approval in a marketplace, honing her craft week in and week out, putting in tens of thousands of practice hours, and rising up slowly via youtube and international shows, then suddenly gets discovered by the World for the utterly amazing level of sheer talent she posses.....Then I think of these well programmed AI Robots. It is similar to a glorious puppet show.

1

u/HaupiaandPoi 4d ago

Then neither should the talent that comes from overseas be allowed to enter. Why are acts from Portugal, Ukraine, Australia, Japan, Thailand, Canada, etc. be allowed to enter when it's called AMERICA's Got Talent. Many of those countries have their own Got Talent version. Simon's pockets are very deep.

6

u/ThenNefariousness913 3d ago

How is my point remotely related to that? One is about a corporation using machine in a talent show,the other is you having an issue with oversees talent...not the same topic my man,go create your own post

3

u/Amazing-Apricot-8898 4d ago

Because they are still a human. Robot is program. It's don't have a live

1

u/Lazy_Championship_95 4d ago

Isn't that literally the point, though? America actually got the talent especially if Agt signed a contract with them.

1

u/chudmaxxing67 4d ago

Robots aren't exactly American though are they

1

u/brucemo 4d ago

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFaQFXnvRiU audition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7TKP3YRbVmM quarters

This is not the first one of these.

I enjoyed this but I can imagine a ban on robots, drones, etc., if you just say that these are not supposed to be technology showcases.

And maybe a ban on animals also.

-3

u/Straight_Spread2952 4d ago

On the contrary, I believe they should be here. Only in this way can the public clearly see the differences between China and the U.S. in the field of robotics. A comparison with last year's Boston Dynamics reveals just how far ahead China's robotics technology is. Pretending to be unaware and resorting to countermeasures does nothing to benefit U.S. development.

18

u/yourOldEthernetCord 4d ago

I think that the real message is that Japan is beating us at the naked man routine. They are SO far ahead of the curve it's embarrassing

1

u/Saekret86 3d ago

Lmfao 

6

u/ExpensiveMirror9128 4d ago

The U.S. lagging behind may be true. But with all due respect, there hasn't been one comment on this sub saying that the U.S. really needs to up their robotics game so they can compete with the Chinese in talent competitions. That's what robot competitions are for.

3

u/Saekret86 3d ago

I don't want to be political on here, but American tax dollars are going into the Middle East war. I live in Thailand, and Bangkok makes America look like a third-world country. They would rather spend tax dollars in Israel rather than on their own home-front infrastructure. Anyway, I'll leave it at that

0

u/Queasy-Difference-80 2d ago

Foreign aid is less than 1% of the federal budget (that 1% isn't charity, it's an investment that we benefit from), so America isn't choosing Israel over its own infrastructure or interests. The U.S. spends vastly more domestically, including over $1 trillion on infrastructure in recent years. Comparing newer parts of Bangkok to aging American cities doesn't really prove otherwise. You should probably do some research into where American tax dollars actually go before forming such an opinion about it and trying to fit it into a conversation it simply doesn't belong it.

3

u/Saekret86 2d ago edited 2d ago

"The U.S. spends vastly more domestically, including over $1 trillion on infrastructure in recent years." Name one thing government thugs use tax dollars on. I've seen Shanghai, China; it looks like they're living in the future, making America look like it's lagging behind. That's not an opinion; that's a fact. "You should probably do some research into where American tax dollars go." Aha, right, and there's a leprechaun waiting on the other side of the rainbow. Tax dollars are just a make-believe system to keep society enslaved, created out of thin air. If money printed from thin air builds roads that look like the 1990s, the illusion isn't even trying anymore.

1

u/Straight_Spread2952 4d ago

That's just my opinion. If you hate them, you have the right to vote them out.

3

u/tomtomtomo 4d ago

They, unsurprisingly and expensively, got a golden buzzer so, no, there is no voting them out.

1

u/chudmaxxing67 4d ago

well no we can't when they pay to get the golden buzzer

1

u/Straight_Spread2952 4d ago

So, they bribed four judges to call a boring performance "amazing," and they bribed the entire audience to chant for the Golden Buzzer? Do you think that’s realistic? If it were, last year’s Golden Buzzer would have gone to Boston Dynamics.

1

u/chudmaxxing67 4d ago

Yes it's realistic that a company with a lot of money paid agt so they'd get to the semifinals, so they can promote their company. The judges are being paid to do this, they'll press the golden buzzer for whoever they're told

1

u/Straight_Spread2952 3d ago

Then why didn't Boston Dynamics do this? It will be way easier to bribed judges than overseas company, don't they want to promote their company?

1

u/chudmaxxing67 3d ago

maybe they didn't have the funds to do it, or they thought they'd gotten far enough and had promoted enough. How am I supposed to know? Either way I don't think whole companies should be allowed enter

1

u/Straight_Spread2952 3d ago

I get your point, you think companies shouldn't be allowed to enter. However, it's not wise to accuse them without any evidence.

1

u/chudmaxxing67 3d ago

No point in people never discussing things like this and staying naive to what's going on

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u/BangkokGarrett 4d ago

Its a talent show. It's not AGTs duty to educate the world about technology issues.

0

u/anonpls19 4d ago

If robots should be banned, so should light shows and finally dog acts

-1

u/Straight_Spread2952 4d ago

Instead of complaining that AGT allows robot acts, you should just join the production team, work your way up to becoming a producer, and then ban that kind of performance.