Who Is Yufei Wu From America’s Got Talent? Meet the Dancer Behind Unitree’s Robots
When eight humanoid robots marched onto the ‘America’s Got Talent’ stage and began dancing alongside one human performer, the machines understandably received most of the attention. But the man leading Unitree’s futuristic Season 21 act is Wu Yufei, a Chinese street dancer from Sichuan who also performs under the name Flying Bug. He is not…
When eight humanoid robots marched onto the ‘America’s Got Talent’ stage and began dancing alongside one human performer, the machines understandably received most of the attention. But the man leading Unitree’s futuristic Season 21 act is Wu Yufei, a Chinese street dancer from Sichuan who also performs under the name Flying Bug. He is not the inventor of the robots, nor is there reliable evidence that he works as a Unitree robotics engineer. Wu is the human performer at the center of a collaboration that pairs his dance skills with Unitree Robotics’ G1 humanoid machines. After four yes votes in the auditions, the act became even more important on September 8 when Sofia Vergara gave Unitree her Live Golden Buzzer, sending Wu and the robots directly to the Season 21 finals.
Who Is Yufei Wu?
Wu Yufei is a 26-year-old dancer from China’s Sichuan Province, according to reports published after his AGT audition. He is also known professionally as Flying Bug, a stage name that has appeared in coverage of his work with Unitree. What remains surprisingly limited is reliable English-language information about his private life, education or family, so claims presenting him as a robotics engineer or Unitree executive should be treated cautiously. The information that is well established identifies him first and foremost as a dancer and performer.
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That distinction matters because the AGT presentation can make it look as though Wu personally built or programmed his mechanical dance crew. Unitree Robotics is the Hangzhou-based company responsible for the robots, while official regional reporting says the company supplied the machines and technical support for the performance. Wu’s role is the human side of the act, using movement and stage presence to turn a robotics demonstration into something that works as television entertainment.
What Robots Does Yufei Wu Use on AGT?
Wu performs with Unitree G1 humanoid robots, rather than specially built AGT props. His original audition featured eight of them moving in formation, dancing and executing athletic maneuvers alongside him. The G1 stands about 1.32 meters tall and weighs roughly 35 kilograms with its battery, while Unitree says the model uses 23 joint motors in its standard configuration and includes a depth camera and 3D LiDAR. The company’s current listed starting price for a standard G1 is $13,500 before tax and shipping.
Those specifications help explain why the performance looks different from an ordinary novelty robot act. The machines are designed for dynamic movement and reinforcement-learning-based development, which gives performers considerably more to work with than simple pre-programmed arm motions. During the first AGT routine, the robots danced with Wu and executed synchronized acrobatic movements, including flips, earning approval from all four judges.
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How Did Unitree Get on America’s Got Talent?
Wu has said that appearing on AGT was something he had wanted to do for three years, making the Season 21 audition more than a last-minute technology showcase. The collaboration gave Unitree a huge American television platform, but Wu also framed the performance around the relationship between people and machines rather than presenting the robots as replacements for human performers. That is one reason his presence is essential to the number. Without him, the act risks looking like a corporate robotics demo; with a dancer controlling the rhythm and theatrical framing, it becomes an AGT act.
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The first performance aired during the Season 21 premiere on June 2, 2026. Wu and the eight robots performed to Lady Gaga’s “Abracadabra,” and Simon Cowell, Howie Mandel, Sofia Vergara and Mel B all sent them forward. Clips subsequently spread well beyond the usual AGT audience because the act appealed equally to talent-show viewers and people following the rapid development of humanoid robotics.
Why Did Sofia Vergara Give Unitree the Golden Buzzer?
Unitree’s September 8 quarterfinal performance convinced Sofia Vergara to use the final Live Golden Buzzer of the quarterfinals. The new routine pushed the act beyond the original synchronized dance, incorporating a more aggressive, martial-arts-inspired presentation that made the machines appear even more capable. Vergara admitted that she found them somewhat frightening, but that reaction did not stop her from sending the act directly to the final.
That buzzer is particularly important because Unitree no longer has to compete in the September 15 semifinal. While Young & Strange, Cesar Dias and Travis Garland survived the same night through America’s vote and must perform again, Wu and Unitree skip that stage entirely. They are already among the acts scheduled to compete for the Season 21 title.
Is Yufei Wu Still on AGT?
Yes. As of September 9, 2026, Yufei Wu and Unitree are officially finalists on America’s Got Talent Season 21. Their next competitive performance is expected during the finals rather than the semifinal, thanks to Vergara’s Golden Buzzer.
Wu may share the billing with machines that can flip, dance and perform martial-arts-style movements, but his story is more straightforward than it initially appears. He is the dancer who gives Unitree’s technology a human performance language, while Unitree supplies the robotics behind it. That partnership, rather than either side alone, is what has turned one of Season 21’s strangest auditions into a genuine finalist.
