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China Hosts World’s First Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon

The event tested robotic endurance under real-world conditions, with the winning robot finishing significantly slower than human competitors.

Tiangong Ultra, a humanoid robot, runs across the finish line while securing the first position during the E-Town Humanoid Robot Half Marathon, in Beijing, China, on April, 19 2025.
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Robots take part in what is billed as the world's first robot half marathon during the Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon held in Beijing, China, on April 19, 2025.
One of the robots waves to the crowd. Photo: Xinhua

Overview

  • Twenty-one humanoid robots raced alongside thousands of human participants in Beijing's Yizhuang district, marking a historic milestone in robotics testing.
  • The winning robot, Tiangong Ultra, completed the 21-kilometer race in 2 hours and 40 minutes, more than an hour behind the top human finisher at 1 hour and 2 minutes.
  • Robots faced challenges such as falls, collisions, and reliance on human assistance, with battery swaps incurring time penalties as per race rules.
  • The race is part of Beijing E-Town’s strategic plan to deploy over 10,000 robots across industries, backed by a $686 million investment over two years.
  • Experts emphasized the event as a hardware endurance test rather than an AI innovation breakthrough, with humanoid running software predating the race by over five years.