Chinese humanoid robot clocks 9.39 seconds in 100 metres, faster than Usain Bolt

A Chinese humanoid robot named Tiangong Ultra ran 100 metres in 9.39 seconds on Saturday at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. The time is faster than the human world record of 9.58 seconds set by Usain Bolt in 2009.

The robot, developed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, won its preliminary heat. It overtook Honor’s Lightning near the finish after trailing early. Lightning finished in 9.47 seconds, also ahead of Bolt’s mark.

Organisers said more than 2,000 robots from 666 teams are competing in the games’ second edition. Events include football, dancing and industrial tasks.

Last year at the inaugural games, Tiangong Ultra won the same distance in 21.50 seconds. The improvement of more than 12 seconds shows rapid progress in balance, power and control systems for bipedal machines.

China has pushed humanoid robotics as a strategic industry. Policymakers and companies aim to deploy the machines in manufacturing, logistics and other sectors. The games serve as a public test of that progress.

Bolt’s record has stood for 17 years. No human has come close since. The robots’ times come under controlled conditions on a track, with no wind or other variables that affect human races. Still, the result is a concrete data point on how quickly mechanical systems are closing the gap in pure speed.

Unitree Robotics’ entry finished the heat in 12.41 seconds. The field remains uneven, but the top performers have moved into a new range.

The games continue through the weekend. Further heats and finals will show whether the early times hold under different conditions.