Bengaluru: Edward Warchocki is Poland’s newest influencer. He sports a diamond-crusted Rolex, a black Adidas backpack and walks the streets of Warsaw interacting with its residents. His claim to fame? He’s a Unitree G1 humanoid robot.
Warchocki broke into the mainstream overnight when a video of him chasing wild boars in Warsaw went viral. The video, posted three days ago, has over 12 million views. But it’s merely a blip in the robot’s online presence. Warchocki’s website claims his videos have racked up over 1.5 billion views in 45 days.
The Unitree robot was brought from China to Poland by Radosław Grzelaczyk, co-founder of MERA Robotics, a Polish company involved in humanoid technology. “We don’t wait for the future—we import it,” reads its website.
Warchocki started posting on 21 February. His first video is a clip of him ordering food at a local McDonald’s. Since then, he’s been on the radio, on the red carpet, ran a marathon and even held a press conference inside Poland’s Parliament.
One of his most popular videos is from his interview at Radio Vox. He speaks in English, a regular interaction where he asks the host how he’s doing. But he overuses the Polish slang word ‘Kurde’, equivalent to the English word damn.
Speaking to TVP World, Grzelaczyk said that older people love talking with Warchocki. “These people are always delighted that they lived to see times in which robots move through the streets,” he added.
Also read: Indian restaurants are using robots. Backing them are DRDO brothers and startups
Work with Warchocki
Warchocki runs on an Operating System developed by MERA. Grzelaczyk said the robot is linked not only to a local AI model, but also to broader sources of information.
“It navigates using a lidar scanner and can walk autonomously or be controlled remotely. In public, however, the team stays close and keeps it under manual control for safety,” TVP World reported.
Warchocki has a dedicated website which not only gives viewers an introduction to him, but also invites people to “work” with him.
“I’m Edward Warchocki. Friends call me Edek,” the website reads. It also includes a timeline of all that he’s been up to, from his first beep and first bus ride to first half-marathon and the meeting with the minister of digital affairs.
In the “work with me” section, you can hire Warchocki for your “your conference, opening, gala”. It guarantees that “people will pull out their phones and the TikToks will make themselves.”
But it’s not just Warchocki on offer, but also his robot buddies. “I’ve got robot buddies who can work for you. Unitree G1, H1 — with MERA OS brains. Logistics, security, retail,” the website reads.
Additionally, you can pay for a spot on Warchocki’s socials—“I handle it better than many flesh-and-blood influencers.”
There’s also a link to the MERA OS, what the website refers to as his brain.
Also read: Four engineers in Greater Noida are building robots for the world
The company behind the robot
The MERA Robotics website lists a host of solutions that they and their tech can help with. This includes training for robot operators at MERA Academy, wholesale and retail distribution of Unitree robots in Poland, software licensing for third-party robot owners.
They claim that their robots are “gold for commercial and logistics networks.” It invites companies to use them as “walking sensors” and monetise data about foot traffic, goods flow and behavior patterns. They also offer robots as security guard, warehouse worker and even receptionists.
MERA Robotics plans to import around 100 humanoid robots from China by the end of July to expand its operations, according to a report in China’s Xinhua.