Unitree founder says humans are still more efficient than robots

Most companies looking to automate are not even focused on humanoids, Burnstein said. "What I hear from customers in the U.S. [is] 'we want solutions. We have a problem. We need a solution. We don't care if it's a humanoid. We don't care if it's a traditional robot, a collaborative robot. We don't even care if it's a robot. We need a solution,'" he said.

"So the onus is on the humanoid players to show we have a solution," Burnstein said, noting the robots must be affordable, safe and ready to deploy.

Startup Keenon builds humanoids that work alongside simpler delivery robots to handle hotel laundry services, COO Wan Bin said. The company's partners include Buffalo Wild Wings and Hilton. Completing 50% of a task well is straightforward, even 80%, he said. Getting to a 99.9% completion rate is where engineering and training get difficult.

Keenon has shipped more than 100,000 robots and expects to surpass 150,000 units by the end of next year, Wan said.