A Chinese humanoid robot has made headlines after beating Usain Bolt’s 100-metre world record at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
The robot, Tiangong Ultra, completed the 100-metre final in an astonishing 8.64 seconds, almost one second faster than Bolt’s official human record of 9.58 seconds, set in Berlin in 2009.
Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Centre, showed remarkable improvement during the five-day competition. It had previously recorded times of 9.39 seconds and 8.86 seconds during earlier stages of the event.
The World Humanoid Robot Games featured more than 2,000 robots from 666 teams, competing in 51 events ranging from athletics and football to practical industrial challenges.
The record highlights the rapid progress being made in humanoid robotics, particularly in movement, balance, speed and control. However, the robots still face challenges after reaching high speeds, with several competitors reportedly struggling to stop and crashing into padded barriers after races.
The achievement is being viewed as another major milestone in China’s rapidly expanding humanoid-robotics industry and its push to develop advanced physical AI systems for real-world applications.
