Box, run, crash: China’s humanoid robot games show advances and limitations
At the inaugural World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, university-built bots duked it out in kickboxing, football, athletics and dance, showcasing China’s push in embodied AI. Backed by hefty state funds and eager to outpace rivals in the US-China tech race, the event dazzled crowds but also revealed key hurdles—battery life, balance, safety and the delicate hands needed for real-world tasks—underscoring a gap between PR spectacle and practical, everyday robot applications.