Humanoid robots struggle in first humans vs. robots half-marathon in China

What just happened? It appears that one thing humanoid robots still can't do better than their human counterparts is long-distance running. This fact was illustrated during a half-marathon in Beijing, China, over the weekend, when most of the competing robots fell over, fell apart, or failed to finsih. The world's first humans vs. robot half-marathon in China saw 21 humanoid machines running alongside their operators in the 13-mile race, in which more than 12,000 people took part – the robots and human competitors ran in separate lanes. The humanoid robot half-marathon in Beijing just started! pic.twitter.com/8vr2nXQwuR – The Humanoid Hub (@TheHumanoidHub) April 19, 2025 China had positioned the event as a way of showing off its advancements in the area of robotics, but it wasn't exactly a resounding success in that department. Bloomberg reports that one of the robots fell at the starting line. Another's head fell off and rolled around on the floor. And one collapsed and broke into ... Read full article.