China's robots race against humans — and their U.S. counterparts

Twenty-one humanoid robots competed alongside people in a half-marathon in Beijing, stoking national pride in China amid its intensifying tech rivalry with the U.S.

BEIJING — In the global race to produce robots that are smarter and faster, China’s humanoids have come a long way. Robots from cutting-edge Chinese companies can dance and spin or do roundhouse kicks, as they have demonstrated in videos that are all over China’s internet.

Yet when humanoids and robots were invited to join real flesh-and-blood runners for a half-marathon in Beijing this past weekend, the race garnered attention but also laid bare the challenges still facing the industry as China seeks to dominate technologies of the future.

Some of the robots barely got started. One, designed with a woman’s body and face, collapsed moments after getting started, sending a group of engineers rushing to its side with laptops. Another that was mounted to a platform with propellers crashed into a barrier.

A robot the size of a young child succumbed to a glitch and simply lay down on the starting line.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/china-robots-race-humans-half-marathon-rcna195586

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