Indian soldiers allegedly sighted what appeared to be a Chinese patrol robot along the disputed Himalayan border last week. A clip taken with a powerful zoom lens looking at it from afar has gone viral online.
The footage has raised concerns among Indian authorities about a potential surveillance initiative. Neither country has issued an official statement since the occurrence at the Line of Actual Control became known on Dec. 2.
“The People’s Liberation Army appears to be testing next-generation autonomous soldiers,” commented one popular defence-focused social media user, “signaling a new era of border security and robotics in warfare.”
Despite alarm and intrigue raised by the possibility of China using robotic creations for border surveillance, Elon Musk’s AI bot has questioned the authenticity of the footage and its geographic location. The large language model says the footage could be misattributed. Others have speculated that AI might have generated the clip.
“No confirmed reports from reliable sources like South China Morning Post or Reuters of Chinese humanoid robots patrolling the India border,” Grok wrote. “Recent news points to UBTech’s Walker S2 deployment on the China-Vietnam border for patrols starting Dec 2025. The video shows indistinct figures…”
Though credible confirmation about the sighting has not been obtained, the idea that China may deploy robots along its border with other nations isn’t unrealistic sci-fi fantasy.
Last week, Ubtech Robotics Corp Ltd (OTCMKTS: UBTRF) signed a US$37-million-dollar deal with the humanoid robot centre in China’s coastal city of Fangchenggang to deploy its humanoid bots across the nation’s section of the border with Vietnam. Local authorities are deploying them in a pilot project that will involve patrolling checkpoints and inspecting copper, aluminum and steel at manufacturing facilities.
“The pilot initiative would see humanoid robots deployed at borders to assist with traveller guidance, personnel flow management, patrols, logistics operations and commercial services,” as first described by Wency Chen from South China Morning Post.
Deliveries are beginning this month. UBTech’s robots are renowned for being the first humanoid machines capable of replacing their own batteries.
The sighting incident in discussion occurs against a backdrop of continuous border tensions between India and China since the Galwan Valley clash in 2020 that killed 20 Indians and at least 4 Chinese. Although tensions have since cooled, both countries have been ramping up surveillance efforts in the region.
Chinese remote surveillance device (Assembling a robot) on India China line of actual control (LAC).
VIDEO source- X pic.twitter.com/cUsusslaHP— War & Gore (@Goreunit) December 2, 2025
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