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14h ago

China Debuts Fully Autonomous Humanoid Robot Soccer Tournament in Beijing

Serving as a final preview for the August World Humanoid Robot Games, the June tournament underscores Beijing’s strategy to test AI-powered humanoids in dynamic sports settings

Teams compete using the T1 robots from Booster Robotics during the inaugural RoBoLeague robot soccer competition held in Beijing, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)
Robots battling it out in the field at the inaugural RoBoLeague robot soccer competition held in Beijing, Saturday, June 28, 2025.
Teams using autonomous T1 robots from Booster Robotics compete in the inaugural RoBoLeague robot soccer competition held in Beijing, Saturday, June 28, 2025. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Overview

  • Four university teams competed in Beijing’s inaugural fully autonomous 3-on-3 humanoid soccer event on June 28, marking the latest milestone in China’s use of sports testbeds for robotics
  • Tsinghua University’s THU Robotics team won the championship with a 5–3 victory over China Agricultural University’s Mountain Sea squad
  • Robots operated without human control using AI-driven algorithms for perception, decision-making, formations and passing, powered by hardware from Booster Robotics
  • Despite built-in self-righting mechanisms, several robots had to be carried off the field on stretchers after falls, highlighting remaining challenges in balance and durability
  • The event feeds into China’s $47 billion robotics market strategy, which relies on competitions to accelerate embodied AI advances ahead of projected growth to $108 billion by 2028