At the robot games in China, the machines are running faster than humans

On Saturday, humanoid robots in China broke world records that were once set by humans. The event was called the World Humanoid Robot Games, and it was held at a famous skating arena in Beijing. One robot ran 100 meters in just 9.39 seconds — faster than the best time ever recorded by a human. The games are like the Olympics, but for robots, and they show how quickly China is advancing in robotics technology.

More than 2,000 humanoid robots took part in the five-day event. There were 51 different competitions, including running, table tennis, soccer, weightlifting, and tug of war. The organizer said that 16 countries were participating, including Germany, Japan, and the United States. Hundreds of robots marched together onto the field in a huge, perfectly coordinated display to open the games.

The record-breaking 100-meter sprint time of 9.39 seconds beat the human world record of 9.58 seconds. That human record was set by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt back in 2009. Both the sprint robot and a high-jump robot came from a Beijing company called X-Humanoid. Even before the official games started, another robot made by Chinese smartphone company Honor ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds during a practice run, reaching a top speed of 14.5 meters per second.

The high-jump competition was just as impressive. A humanoid robot jumped 2.88 meters, which is higher than the human world record of 2.45 meters. The human record was set by Cuba's Javier Sotomayor back in 1993. That same robot also jumped much higher than any robot had managed at last year's first edition of the games, where the best result was just 0.95 meters.

The rapid rise of Chinese robotics has made some countries nervous. Last month, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission announced a ban on imports of new foreign-made humanoid robots, saying it was for national security reasons. The ban was mainly aimed at China. The U.S. Pentagon also added Unitree, one of China's top robot makers, to a list of companies it believes have ties to the Chinese military, and China's government pushed back against those accusations.

Experts point out that even with all these impressive records, humanoid robots are still mostly used for shows, performances, and research. It will still take time before they are widely used in everyday life. Still, many people who watched the games in person said they were excited by what they saw. Spectators said the robots' abilities were improving faster than they had expected.

Some people in the crowd shared mixed feelings about the rise of robots. A Beijing resident named Li Yanfeng said she used to worry that robots might take jobs away from people, but seeing the technology grow made her curious enough to attend. Another spectator, Yang Shangzheng, said: "These sports are perfectly normal for humans, but now robots can do them. I find it amazing." A man named Liu Tao brought his son to the games, hoping to see the best robots China has to offer.