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2w ago

Inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games Underway in Beijing Showcases Progress and Setbacks

Frequent tumbles alongside recoveries in early rounds yield vital insights for China’s state-led push to commercialize humanoid robotics.

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Two humanoid robots face off in a soccer match, while another pair boxes inside a ring, showcasing AI-powered athletic and combat skills during the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. The event features over 500 robots from 16 countries competing in sports, martial arts, and scenario-based challenges.
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Overview

  • Over 500 robots from 280 teams representing 16 countries are competing in 26 categories from August 14 to 17 at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval.
  • Competitors face traditional sports contests—football, track and field, table tennis and boxing—alongside scenario challenges such as medicine sorting, warehouse handling and cleaning tasks.
  • Footage from early competitions shows robots frequently tumbling, colliding and occasionally requiring human intervention to right themselves.
  • Chinese organizers frame the Games as a large-scale stress test and data-collection platform to accelerate embodied-AI development and commercialization.
  • Beijing has channeled over $20 billion in subsidies into robotics and plans a one-trillion-yuan fund to support startups in the sector.