Robot Tiangong Ultra beats Usain Bolt's 100m record in Beijing

At the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, the humanoid robot Tiangong Ultra ran the 100 meters in 9.39 seconds, beating Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds set in 2009 Source: elconfidencial. The robot, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, finished ahead of Honor's Lightning (Shandian), which clocked 9.47 seconds Source: infobae. Another Tiangong Ultra also broke the 400m record with a time of 38.15 seconds, surpassing the human mark of 43.03 seconds Source: elcolombiano.

Beyond speed

The games, held from August 22–26 at the National Speed Skating Oval, feature 666 teams and 2,056 robots competing in 51 events Source: elpaises. While robots excel at locomotion, they struggle with fine motor skills. Eight competitions test manual dexterity, such as opening lids, assembling tools, and picking up beans with tweezers Source: elconfidencial. These tasks require coordinating vision, trajectory calculation, grip pressure, and precise finger movements—a significant challenge Source: elconfidencial.

Mixed reactions

Spectators enjoyed both successes and failures. Some robots failed to start, while others collapsed at the starting gun Source: elcolombiano. Hou Yali, a 72-year-old spectator, expressed interest in seeing robots face humans to better assess their capabilities Source: elcolombiano.

What's next

Experts like Hong Yizhou, an AI student at Beihang University, believe humanoids could be operating in real-world settings within two to three years Source: elpaises. The games aim to push robots from impressive displays to practical applications in factories, hotels, and homes Source: elpaises.