China’s Humanoid Robot Just Won a Marathon—And Now It Wants to Take Over the World

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In a most glorious and incredibly heartwarming display of mechanical prowess, Beijing’s Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, with a healthy dose of governmental backing, has captivated the nation after its robot secured a grand victory at China’s first-ever humanoid robot half marathon. But wait, there’s more—brace yourself for the future. This victory is merely a warm-up as the center now plots to create an “Android” of humanoid robotics, poised to conquer the industry with the kind of bravado Google might envy, though, you know, without the pesky apps that take over your phone.

Last month, the center unleashed its Tien Kung Ultra robot, which, quite unsurprisingly, zoomed across the finish line in first place during the humanoid robot half marathon held in Beijing’s Yizhuang district. Standing at an impressively tall 180cm and tipping the scales at a solid 55kg, the robot completed the 21km race in a modest 2 hours and 40 minutes. To put that in perspective, it’s practically the mechanical equivalent of an office worker strolling through their lunch break—minus the exhaustion and sore feet.

But the plot thickens! Enter UBTech, the trusty sidekick to X-Humanoid, who revealed the Tien Kung Xingzhe— a human-sized research robot retailing for a jaw-dropping US$41,000 (or a more modest 299,000 yuan if you’re feeling particularly frugal). This majestic machine’s release follows the recent unveiling of the Tien Kung “core platform,” a technological marvel designed to propel humanoid robots into a new, glittering age of superiority. Take that, smartphones!

In a move that could only be described as “open-source with flair,” X-Humanoid decided to share the Tien Kung technologies with the world in November 2024. They threw caution to the wind and gave away the designs and software for free. Xiong Youjun, the center’s chief visionary, explained this philanthropic gesture as an act of goodwill to help boost China’s humanoid robot industry, ensuring the country’s leadership in the international robotics race. Ambitious, right? Or perhaps just ambitious enough to keep you awake at night wondering if robots are secretly plotting to take over the workforce.

But wait, there’s more—China’s robotics industry is booming thanks to AI tech improvements. In that same half-marathon, a robot from Noetix Robotics, standing a proud 1.2 meters tall, clinched second place, while a Shanghai-based DroidUp robot nabbed third. Meanwhile, a competitor from Unitree, a popular startup out of Hangzhou, suffered a minor (though no less entertaining) tumble during the race, only to rise like a phoenix and continue its journey. Unfortunately, its final standing remains a mystery, but rest assured, this setback isn’t indicative of any major flaw—Unitree clarified that it wasn’t officially participating. It seems its robots were operated by some very brave, very capable clients, who may or may not have been practicing for this moment in secret.

And in a move that sounds like something straight out of a sci-fi thriller, China’s DeepSeek is developing an AI model that promises to evolve beyond mere mortal control. This “self-improving” AI won’t need human help, because, naturally, who needs us anymore? In other news, Chinese researchers in Hefei are cooking up something even more mind-bending—a real quantum computer called Origin Wukong, which is being used to enhance a gargantuan AI model with an astonishing 1 billion parameters. One can only imagine what’ll happen when it figures out how to beat us at chess—again.

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2025-04-19 15:01