Overview

• The world's first humanoid robot half-marathon took place on April 19, 2025, in Beijing, featuring 21 robots and 12,000 human runners on parallel courses.
• Tien Kung Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, finished first among robots with a time of 2:40:42, requiring three battery swaps and falling once.
• Significant technical issues plagued the race, with robots experiencing overheating, falling, and even breaking apart, leaving only six robots able to complete the course.
• The event served as a real-world stress test for humanoid robotics, exposing key limitations in autonomy, heat dissipation, and battery life despite advancements in hardware robustness.
• Organizers framed the race as a showcase of China's progress in AI and robotics, with plans to apply learnings to industrial and household robot applications.