Chinese Humanoid Robots Surpass Usain Bolt's 100 Meter Record
8 sources across 7 countries · 1 of them is linked to a state
Who reported this
- Der Spiegel
- Frankfurter Allgemeine
- Infobae
- CNN Brasil
- Tempo English
- ANSA
- Al Jazeera
- Associated Press
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.
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A humanoid robot developed in China completed a 100 meter sprint in 9.39 seconds during the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. This time beats the human world record of 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt in 2009. The robot that achieved the 9.39 second mark was developed by the Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics and was part of the X-Humanoid team. Some reports identify the winning robot as Tiangong Ultra, which beat competitors including a robot from the company Unitree. Following the sprint, several robots reportedly crashed into a protective wall and had to be removed by staff on stretchers.
Another robot named Lightning, developed by the smartphone manufacturer Honor, reportedly recorded an even faster time of 9.32 seconds during a preparatory test. Lightning previously won a robot half marathon in Beijing in April with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds. To achieve its sprinting speed, researchers lengthened the robot's legs by 10 centimeters to a total of 1.05 meters. During the 100 meter run, the robot reached a maximum speed of 14.5 meters per second.
The World Humanoid Robot Games feature over 2,000 robots from more than 660 teams across 16 countries. The event includes 51 disciplines ranging from athletics and weightlifting to household tasks and rescue operations. The competition is held at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing. The Chinese government has designated embodied artificial intelligence as a future industry, leading to significant investment from universities and companies. This trend has also impacted financial markets, with the robotics firm Unitree seeing a significant surge in its stock price during its Shanghai debut.
How each side framed it
- Centre-left
- These outlets highlighted the broader strategic goal of China to reduce technological dependence on the West and the rapid growth of the AI industry.
- Centre
- These outlets focused on the technical specifications and the factual achievement of breaking the record.
- Centre-right
- These outlets emphasized the specific names of the competing robots and the context of the event's organizational scale.
Sources
- Centre ANSA: Chinese robot runs 100 meters in 9.39, Bolt's record beaten
- Centre-left Al Jazeera: Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m world record at humanoid games
- Centre Associated Press: Chinese humanoid robots smash human records in 100m sprint and high jump at Beijing robot games - AP News
- Centre CNN Brasil: Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt's record in the 100 meter dash
- Centre-left Der Spiegel: Artificial Intelligence: China's sprint robots run faster than Usain Bolt
- Centre-right Frankfurter Allgemeine: 100 meters in Beijing: Chinese robot sprints faster than Usain Bolt
- Centre-right Infobae: Chinese robot beats human world record in the 100 meter athletics competition
- Centre-left Tempo English: Chinese Robot Beats Usain Bolt's 100m World Record
100% of the statements in this article were traced back to the source articles listed above.