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Chinese Humanoid Robot Beats Usain Bolt's 100m World Record

9 sources across 6 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state

Who reported this

  • The Guardian United Kingdom · Centre-left · Scott Trust Limited
  • BBC News United Kingdom · Centre · Public · Licence fee, royal charter
  • Reuters United Kingdom · Centre · Thomson Reuters Corporation
  • UOL Brazil · Centre-left · Grupo Folha
  • Folha de S.Paulo Brazil · Centre · Grupo Folha (Frias family)
  • Deutsche Welle Germany · Centre · Public · German federal public-law corporation
  • Telex Hungary · Centre · Reader-funded, staff-owned
  • ANSA Italy · Centre · Publisher cooperative
  • Al Jazeera Qatar · Centre-left · State-affiliated · Qatari government funded

What the colours mean

  • Left
  • Centre-left
  • Centre
  • Centre-right
  • Right
  • A hatched block means the outlet is affiliated with, or controlled by, a state.

Political lean describes where an outlet sits within the politics of its own country. It is never a position on a single global scale.

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A humanoid robot developed by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor has run 100 meters in 9.32 seconds, surpassing the human world record of 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt in 2009. The robot, named Lightning, achieved a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during a preparatory test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which opened in Beijing on Saturday. The event features more than 2,000 robots from 16 countries competing in activities ranging from boxing and football to household tasks like folding laundry.

Lightning has previously demonstrated high performance in long distance running. In April, the robot won the Beijing half marathon, covering 21 kilometers in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, which is faster than the elite human men's world record. Reports indicate that the robot stood 169 centimeters tall with 95 centimeter legs during the half marathon; however, researchers lengthened its legs by 10 centimeters to 1.05 meters before the World Humanoid Robot Games.

Several reports note that China is promoting humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry. Policymakers and companies believe that advancements in artificial intelligence and hardware will accelerate the deployment of these robots in logistics, manufacturing, and consumer applications.

How each side framed it

Centre-left
These outlets emphasized the strategic industrial goals of the Chinese government alongside the athletic milestones.
Centre
These outlets focused on the technical achievement and the broader context of China's investment in robotics.

Sources

100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.