China Puts Humanoid Robots to the Test
- Tiangong Ultra ran the 100 metres in 9.39 seconds, beating Usain Bolt's world record of 9.58 seconds.
- A separate robot with articulated hands demonstrated a domestic skill — picking up a baozi and warming it in a microwave.
- The demonstrations, which also included robots jumping, punching, and playing ping-pong and football, highlight the breadth of China's humanoid robotics development.
Amid the headline-grabbing spectacle of bipedal robots sprinting, leaping, throwing punches and competing at ping-pong and football, one scene at a recent Chinese robotics showcase offered a quieter but telling demonstration of the technology's ambitions: a robotic torso with articulated hands reached into a display case of snacks, selected a baozi — a traditional Chinese steamed bun — carried it to a microwave, placed it inside, and turned the timer.
Speed and dexterity on display
The domestic task drew less attention than the athletic feats taking place around it, yet it underscored a broader push by China to advance humanoid robots capable of navigating everyday environments. The most striking performance came from Tiangong Ultra, which completed the 100 metres in 9.39 seconds — comfortably inside Usain Bolt's human world record of 9.58 seconds.
A showcase of competing capabilities
The demonstrations covered a wide range of physical and practical tasks. Bipedal robots were shown running and jumping as well as engaging in structured sporting activities, suggesting that developers are testing machines along multiple dimensions of capability simultaneously — both raw athletic performance and fine motor control suited to domestic or light industrial settings. The event forms part of a broader Chinese push to position humanoid robotics as a strategic industry.
The gap between a robot heating a bun and one outrunning the fastest human in recorded history may appear vast, yet both demonstrations emerged from the same national development effort — pointing to the scale and range of what China is now fielding in the humanoid robotics arena.
