A Chinese humanoid robot has just outrun Usain Bolt at least on paper.
Tiangong Ultra clocked 9.39 seconds in a 100-metre heat at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.
It beat Bolt’s 9.58-second human world record set in 2009.
But before we crown our robot champion, there’s a catch: this was a preliminary race, and the machines were hardly graceful.
Tiangong initially fell behind Honor’s Lightning before powering past it near the finish. Lightning still posted an astonishing 9.47 seconds.
Robot Gains, Human Limits
Then came the less glamorous part: Tiangong stumbled into the sidelines while Lightning collapsed and had to be carried away on a stretcher.
Still, the improvement is remarkable. Tiangong won last year’s 100m in 21.50 seconds, meaning its latest performance was more than twice as fast.
And this is no small robotics showcase. More than 2,000 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries are competing in events ranging from sprinting and football.
They are also competing in dancing and industrial tasks.
China is betting heavily on humanoid robots as a strategic technology for factories, logistics and eventually homes.
So, has a robot really beaten Bolt? Technically, yes.
But until these machines can cross the finish line without collapsing afterward, humans still have plenty to celebrate.
