Humanoid robots crush human runners at China half-marathon, beating world record by minutes

Humanoid robots race past humans in Beijing half-marathon, showing rapid advances

BEIJING, April 19 (Reuters) - Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism as they whizzed past human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, having lagged far behind a year earlier. The race's inaugural edition last year was riddled with mishaps, as many robots struggled to get off the starting line, and most were unable to finish. The champion robot recorded a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, comfortably ahead of its machine rivals, but more than double the time of the human winner ⁠of the conventional race. The contrast with this year was stark. Not only had the number of robots running increased from 20 to more than 100, but several vying for the podium were noticeably faster than the professional athletes racing in the human race. The robots and humans ran in parallel tracks to avoid collisions. The winning robot, developed by Honor, a well-known Chinese smartphone maker, finished the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, several minutes faster than the world record set by Jacob Kiplimo last month ⁠in Lisbon, though the humanoid had to be helped back up just metres from the finish line after crashing into the railing. While economically valuable applications of humanoid robots remain in trial phase, the marathon's showcasing of these machines' physical prowess highlights their potential to reshape everything ⁠from dangerous jobs to combat on the battlefield. China has the goal of becoming a powerhouse in this frontier industry, and it has enacted a wide range of policies from subsidies to ⁠infrastructure projects to cultivate local firms. China's most-watched TV show, the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala, in February showcased the country's push to dominate humanoid robots and the future of ⁠manufacturing. That included a lengthy martial arts demonstration where over a dozen Unitree humanoids performed sophisticated fight sequences waving swords, poles and nunchucks in close proximity to human children performers. Reporting by Eduardo Baptista and Laurie Chen; Editing by Jamie Freed Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab * Suggested Topics: * Sports Eduardo Baptista Thomson Reuters Eduardo Baptista is a Senior Correspondent for Reuters based in Beijing, covering China's technology, space, and automotive industries. He has led enterprise and investigative reporting on China's military-linked companies, artificial intelligence and semiconductor supply chains, as well as macroeconomic and industrial policy. Baptista has reported from China for nearly a decade and holds a BA in History from the University of Cambridge. Laurie Chen Thomson Reuters Laurie Chen is a China Correspondent at Reuters' Beijing bureau, covering politics and general news. Before joining Reuters, she reported on China for six years at Agence France-Presse and the South China Morning Post in Hong Kong. She speaks fluent Mandarin.

Humanoid robots race past humans in Beijing half-marathon, showing rapid advances

BEIJING -- Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the sector's rapid technical advances. The race's inaugural edition last year was riddled with mishaps, and most robots were unable to finish. Last ⁠year's champion robot recorded a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, more than double the time of the human winner of the conventional race. This year's contrast was stark. Not only had the number of participating teams increased from 20 to more than 100, but several robot frontrunners were noticeably faster than professional athletes, beating the human winners by more than 10 minutes. Unlike last year, nearly half of the robot entrants navigated the tougher terrain autonomously instead of being directed by remote ⁠control during the 21-km (13-mile) race. The robots and 12,000 men and women ran in ⁠parallel tracks to avoid collisions. The winning robot, developed by Chinese smartphone brand Honor, finished the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, several minutes faster than the half-marathon world record set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month. Teams from Honor, a ⁠Huawei spin-off, took the three podium spots, all self-navigated and posting world-record-beating times. Du Xiaodi, an Honor engineer on the winning team, said its ⁠robot was in development for a year, fitted with legs 90 to 95 cm (35 to 37 inches) long to mimic elite human runners and liquid cooling technology used in its smartphones. Du said the sector remained in a nascent phase, but he was confident humanoids would eventually reshape many industries, including manufacturing. "Running faster may not seem meaningful at first, but it enables technology transfer, for example, into structural reliability and cooling, and eventually industrial applications," Du said. Spectators largely viewed the variety of humanoids of different sizes and gaits on display as evidence of China's improvements in robotics. "The humanoid robots' running posture I saw was really quite impressive... considering that AI has only been developing for a short time, I'm already very impressed that it can achieve this level of performance," said ⁠Chu Tianqi, a 23-year-old engineering student at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. "The future will definitely be an AI era. If people don't know how to use AI now, especially if some are still resistant to it, they will definitely become obsolete," he said. Another spectator, 11-year-old schoolboy Guo Yukun, said after watching the race, he was inspired to pursue a university degree in robotics in the future. Guo said he takes regular classes in robotics theory and programming at his elite Beijing school, and is part of his school's team for the International Olympiad in Informatics, a global programming competition for high schoolers. While economically viable applications of humanoid robots mostly remain in a trial phase, the half-marathon's showcasing of these machines' physical prowess highlights their potential to reshape everything from dangerous jobs to battlefield combat. However, Chinese robotics firms are still struggling to develop the AI software that would enable humanoids to match the efficiency of human factory workers. Experts said the skills on display during the half-marathon, while entertaining, do not translate ⁠to the widespread commercialisation of humanoid robots in industrial settings, where manual dexterity, real-world perception and capabilities beyond small-scale, repetitive tasks ⁠are crucial. China is seeking to become a global powerhouse in this frontier industry, and it has enacted a wide range of policies from subsidies to infrastructure projects to cultivate local firms. The country's most-watched TV show, the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala, in February showcased China's push to dominate humanoid robots and the future of manufacturing. That included a lengthy martial arts demonstration where over a dozen Unitree humanoids performed sophisticated fight sequences waving swords, poles and nunchucks in close proximity to human children performers.

China humanoid robot half-marathon to showcase technical leaps

More than 300 humanoid robots participating in China's second robot half-marathon on Sunday will be facing tougher terrain designed to test their technical advancements, as Beijing seeks to develop the industry into a major pillar of its economy. Over 70 teams, almost five times as many as last year, will be competing in the 21 km (13 miles) race in Beijing that includes paved slopes and parkland. "It will certainly be interesting to see the progress in durability of components and battery lifetime compared to last year," said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics at Stieler, a technology consultancy. "Humanoid robot makers need to find a balance between quality in products which are still under constant evolution and price pressure." While all of last year's entrants were remotely controlled, this time almost 40% of the robot ⁠participants will ⁠navigate the course autonomously, the organisers have said, in a high-profile demonstration of the industry's growing capabilities. But the event is also likely to highlight the challenges Chinese firms face as they try to create robots that can effectively mimic human movement and performance. In last year's race some robots crashed and fell near the starting line, while the winning Tiangong Ultra model, developed by the state-backed Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics in collaboration with UBTech, finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes, comfortably ahead of its humanoid rivals but more than double the time of the human winner of the conventional race. Tiangong Ultra will navigate "fully autonomously" this year, relying solely on its sensors to avoid obstacles, and closely mimic the human gait through large-scale data simulation training, the Center of Humanoid Robotics said in a statement. "When the robot runs at speeds approaching those of professional human athletes, the time window ⁠for perception and decision-making is extremely short, placing very high demands on computing power, algorithms, and system response speed," it said. Social media videos of the robots training in Beijing at night this month showed some models successfully imitating human running and reaching speeds of 14 km per hour, but others' movements were more jerky ⁠and some fell over or crashed into railings, suggesting they might struggle to make it to the finishing line. China dominates global humanoid robot installations, accounting for more than 80% of the 16,000 units installed worldwide in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The top US vendor, Tesla, only accounted for 5% of global humanoid installations, the report said. Domestic market leaders AgiBot and Unitree each shipped more than 5,000 units last year - the highest globally - while Unitree has pledged to expand production capacity to 75,000 humanoid robots annually. 'Dancing disguised as working' While the half-marathon might make for entertaining viewing, experts say the skills on display do not translate to the widespread commercialisation of humanoid robots in industrial settings, where manual dexterity, real-world perception and capabilities beyond small-scale, repetitive tasks are crucial. Currently, Unitree's humanoid models are primarily used by research institutions, for dance performances and as interactive guides in service establishments, according to its IPO prospectus. And while some humanoids might be able to complete a half-marathon, even in China they remain years away from widespread domestic or industrial deployment, experts say. "The reason our applications aren't taking off is that the robots' IQ is too low. The models are poor, their success rates are low," said Tang Wenbin, founder of embodied intelligence startup Yuanli Lingji at a Beijing tech forum last month. "Honestly, the whole industry's level is ⁠still at a very elementary stage ... Right now, a lot of what we see is 'dancing disguised as working'." The Chinese government has named embodied intelligence, or physical AI, as one of the key industries it wants to nurture as it looks to automation to boost economic productivity and upgrade traditional manufacturing. Chinese robotics firms are still struggling to develop the AI software that would enable humanoids to match the efficiency of human factory workers, while components manufacturers are contending with cost pressures, analysts said. As they seek to improve the software, firms are ploughing resources into large-scale real-world data collection, using human workers fitted with sensors and deploying more humanoids to factory floors. In 2024, UBTech had fewer than 10 humanoids in factories. Last year, that number jumped to more than 1,000. This year, it aims to launch 10,000 full-size humanoid robots, including new models tailored for a variety of commercial settings, Chief Business Officer Michael Tam said during a media tour to the company's Shenzhen showroom in southern China. "When we talk about AI, it relies on how much data, especially high-quality data, we can collect," he said.

Humanoid robots crush humans during half-marathon -- and set the world record

Dozens of Chinese-made humanoid robots showed off their fast-improving athleticism and autonomous navigation skills as they whizzed past human runners in a half-marathon race in Beijing on Sunday, highlighting the sector's rapid technical advances. The race's inaugural edition last year was riddled with mishaps, and most robots were unable to finish. Last year's champion robot recorded a time of 2 hours 40 minutes, more than double the time of the human winner of the conventional race. This year's contrast was stark. Not only had the number of participating teams increased from 20 to more than 100, but several robot frontrunners were noticeably faster than professional athletes, beating the human winners by more than 10 minutes. Unlike last year, nearly half of the robot entrants navigated the tougher terrain autonomously instead of being directed by remote control during the 13-mile race. The robots and 12,000 men and women ran in parallel tracks to avoid collisions. The winning ⁠robot, developed by Chinese smartphone brand Honor, finished the race in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, several minutes faster than the half-marathon world record set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month. Teams from Honor, a Huawei spin-off, took the three podium spots, all self-navigated and posting world-record-beating times. Du Xiaodi, an Honor engineer on the winning team, said its robot was in development for a year, fitted with legs 90 to 95 cm (35 to 37 inches) long to mimic elite human runners and liquid cooling technology used in its smartphones. Du said the sector remained in a nascent phase, but he was confident humanoids would eventually reshape many industries, including manufacturing. "Running faster may not seem meaningful at first, but it enables technology transfer, for example, into structural reliability and cooling, and eventually industrial applications," Du said. Spectators largely viewed the variety of humanoids of different sizes and gaits on display as evidence of China's improvements in robotics. "The humanoid robots' running posture I saw was really quite impressive ... considering that AI has only been developing for a short time, ⁠I'm already very impressed that it can achieve this level of performance," said Chu Tianqi, a 23-year-old engineering student at Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications. "The future will definitely be an AI era. If people don't know how to use AI now, especially if some are still resistant to it, they will definitely become obsolete," he said. Another spectator, 11-year-old schoolboy Guo Yukun, said after watching the race, he was inspired to pursue a university degree in robotics in the future. Guo said he takes regular classes in robotics theory and programming at his elite Beijing school, and is ⁠part of his school's team for the International Olympiad in Informatics, a global programming competition for high schoolers. While economically viable applications of humanoid robots mostly remain in a trial phase, the half-marathon's showcasing of these machines' physical prowess highlights their potential to reshape everything from dangerous jobs to battlefield combat. However, Chinese robotics firms are still struggling to develop the AI software that would enable ⁠humanoids to match the efficiency of human factory workers. Experts said the skills on display during the half-marathon, while entertaining, do not translate to the widespread commercialization of humanoid robots in industrial settings, where manual dexterity, real-world perception, and capabilities beyond small-scale, repetitive tasks are crucial. China is seeking to become a global powerhouse in this frontier industry, and it has ⁠enacted a wide range of policies from subsidies to infrastructure projects to cultivate local firms. The country's most-watched TV show, the annual CCTV Spring Festival gala, in February showcased China's push to dominate humanoid robots and the future of manufacturing. That included a lengthy martial arts demonstration where over a dozen Unitree humanoids performed sophisticated fight sequences waving swords, poles and nunchucks in close proximity to human children performers.

China humanoid robot half-marathon to showcase technical leaps

BEIJING, April 18 (Reuters) - More than 300 humanoid robots participating in China's second robot half-marathon on Sunday will be facing tougher terrain designed to test their technical advancements, as Beijing seeks to develop the industry into a major pillar of its economy. Over 70 teams, almost five times as many as last year, will be competing in the 21 km (13 miles) race in Beijing that includes paved slopes and parkland. "It will certainly be interesting to see the progress in durability of components and battery lifetime compared to last year," said Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics at Stieler, a technology consultancy. "Humanoid robot makers need to find a balance between quality in products which are still under constant evolution and price pressure." While all of last year's entrants were remotely controlled, this time almost 40% of the robot participants will navigate the course autonomously, the organisers have said, in a high-profile demonstration of the industry's growing capabilities. But the event is also likely to highlight the challenges Chinese firms face as they try to create robots that can effectively mimic human movement and performance. In last year's race some robots crashed and fell near the starting line, while the winning Tiangong Ultra model, developed by the state-backed Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics in collaboration with UBTech, finished in 2 hours and 40 minutes, comfortably ahead of its humanoid rivals but more than double the time of the human winner of the conventional race. Tiangong Ultra will navigate "fully autonomously" this year, relying solely on its sensors to avoid obstacles, and closely mimic the human gait through large-scale data simulation training, the Center of Humanoid Robotics said in a statement. "When the robot runs at speeds approaching those of professional human athletes, the time window for perception and decision-making is extremely short, placing very high demands on computing power, algorithms, and system response speed," it said. Social media videos of the robots training in Beijing at night this month showed some models successfully imitating human running and reaching speeds of 14 km per hour, but others' movements were more jerky and some fell over or crashed into railings, suggesting they might struggle to make it to the finishing line. China dominates global humanoid robot installations, accounting for more than 80% of the 16,000 units installed worldwide in 2025, according to Counterpoint Research. The top U.S. vendor, Tesla, only accounted for 5% of global humanoid installations, the report said. Domestic market leaders AgiBot and Unitree each shipped more than 5,000 units last year - the highest globally - while Unitree has pledged to expand production capacity to 75,000 humanoid robots annually. 'DANCING DISGUISED AS WORKING' While the half-marathon might make for entertaining viewing, experts say the skills on display do not translate to the widespread commercialisation of humanoid robots in industrial settings, where manual dexterity, real-world perception and capabilities beyond small-scale, repetitive tasks are crucial. Currently, Unitree's humanoid models are primarily used by research institutions, for dance performances and as interactive guides in service establishments, according to its IPO prospectus. And while some humanoids might be able to complete a half-marathon, even in China they remain years away from widespread domestic or industrial deployment, experts say. "The reason our applications aren't taking off is that the robots' IQ is too low. The models are poor, their success rates are low," said Tang Wenbin, founder of embodied intelligence startup Yuanli Lingji at a Beijing tech forum last month. "Honestly, the whole industry's level is still at a very elementary stage ... Right now, a lot of what we see is 'dancing disguised as working'." The Chinese government has named embodied intelligence, or physical AI, as one of the key industries it wants to nurture as it looks to automation to boost economic productivity and upgrade traditional manufacturing. Chinese robotics firms are still struggling to develop the AI software that would enable humanoids to match the efficiency of human factory workers, while components manufacturers are contending with cost pressures, analysts said. As they seek to improve the software, firms are ploughing resources into large-scale real-world data collection, using human workers fitted with sensors and deploying more humanoids to factory floors. In 2024, UBTech had fewer than 10 humanoids in factories. Last year, that number jumped to more than 1,000. This year, it aims to launch 10,000 full-size humanoid robots, including new models tailored for a variety of commercial settings, Chief Business Officer Michael Tam said during a media tour to the company's Shenzhen showroom in southern China. "When we talk about AI, it relies on how much data, especially high-quality data, we can collect," he said. (Reporting by Laurie Chen; Additional reporting by David Kirton in Shenzhen; Editing by Miyoung Kim and Kate Mayberry)