Humanoid Robots Break Human Sprint Records at Beijing Games

A robot's face-covering sprint at the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games was spontaneous and not designed by its developers.

Humanoid robots set new records at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, which opened on Saturday for a five-day run. The Tien Kung Ultra robot, developed by Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics Co., finished the 100-meter preliminary heat on Saturday in 9.32 seconds. This time beat the 9.58-second world record set by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in Berlin in 2009.

The same humanoid model clocked 38.15 seconds in the 400-meter final on Sunday, surpassing the 43.03-second world record logged by South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. After completing the 100-meter race, the Tien Kung Ultra machine crashed into a mat set up for deceleration and caught fire. Over 2,000 humanoid robots, fielded by more than 660 teams from 16 countries, are participating in the event.

The games showcase rapid advances in artificial intelligence-driven robotics technology. Robots also competed in boxing, football, and sprinting. One Chinese robot traded forehands and backhands with human players during singles and mixed-doubles demonstrations in tennis. Another Chinese robot rallied with Olympic champion Ding Ning. Humanoid robots walked in formation during the opening ceremony of the second World Humanoid Robot Games.