Overview

• The inaugural humanoid robot half-marathon in Beijing featured 21 robots running alongside 12,000 human participants on parallel courses.
• Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won the robot division, finishing in 2 hours and 40 minutes.
• Despite the milestone, only six robots completed the 21.1 km course, with the majority experiencing breakdowns, overheating, and mechanical failures.
• Robots relied heavily on human support, including battery swaps, duct tape, and water sprays for cooling, underscoring their current limitations in autonomy.
• The event served as a public stress test for bipedal robotics and a showcase of China's ambitions to advance AI and robotics technology.