A humanoid robot built by a Beijing government-backed lab ran the 100 meters faster than any human ever has, closing out China's second World Humanoid Robot Games with a time that beat Usain Bolt's decade-old world record — and then, on at least one of its record-setting runs, caught fire crossing the line.
The robot, Tiangong Ultra, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, ran the distance in 8.64 seconds in the closing-day final on Aug. 26, according to Interesting Engineering, improving on the 8.86 seconds it posted two days earlier and the 9.39 seconds it ran when the games opened. Bolt's human world record, set in 2009, stands at 9.58 seconds. In the semifinal where the robot first broke Bolt's mark, Al Jazeera reported it slammed into a padded stopping mat beyond the finish line, collapsed, and produced a small fire in its torso before staff rushed in.
More than 2,000 robots from 666 teams competed across 51 events at the games, held Aug. 22-26 at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval, in disciplines ranging from soccer and ballroom dancing to simulated firefighting and hotel housekeeping. The event, now in its second year, is part of a broader Chinese government push to build an edge in humanoid robotics manufacturing; organizers said Tiangong-series robots also topped human marks over the games in the 400 meters, the 1,500 meters and the high jump.
Robotics researchers were quick to caution against reading the record as robots simply out-running people. Dennis Hong, a UCLA mechanical engineering professor, told the Associated Press the achievement mattered "not simply because the robot ran faster than a human, but because of what it takes to make a bipedal robot run at this speed" — balance, actuator power and control software all have to hold together at that stride rate. Interesting Engineering likewise noted that robot and human sprint times are set under different rules and conditions and aren't strictly comparable.
Chinese officials have framed the games as a step toward commercial humanoid robotics rather than pure spectacle, with state media quoting near-term priorities focused on narrower jobs like warehouse work and eldercare pilots rather than general-purpose household robots. A third edition of the World Humanoid Robot Games is expected in Beijing next year.
