Move over, Usain Bolt: Humanoid robots smash human records at Beijing games

BEIJING — Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.

BEIJING — Chinese humanoid robots broke records set by humans, including beating Usain Bolt’s 100-meter sprint world record, on the opening day of the Olympics-like World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing on Saturday.

More than 2,000 humanoid robots were participating in the event, the organizer said.

The five-day games, now in its second year, are a spectacle demonstrating China’s rapid progress in advanced robotics as the technology race with the U.S. heats up, with 51 events and more than 1,000 competitions taking place including running, table tennis and soccer.

The games, which are taking place in the National Speed Skating Oval built for the 2022 Winter Olympics, opened the same week as Beijing held the 2026 World Robot Conference, where companies showcased around 3,000 products, including humanoid robots.

Honor's "Lightning" humanoid robot on April 19 in Beijing.Ni Yanqiang, Liu Chenyin, Chou Xueyan / VCG via Getty ImagesChina makes the majority of the world’s humanoid robots. The U.S. has stepped up scrutiny of robots from the country.