A staff member rushed in as the machine lay motionless, lights still flashing around it, and dragged the robot offstage.
As the clip spread across social media, viewers were quick to make fun of the performance.
“Go home, robot, you’re drunk,” wrote one commenter on X.
“Wow, the new Michael Jackson movie looks terrible,” joked another.
Staff had to drag a dancing robot offstage after it failed to emulate the King of Pop. Photos / Eren Chen
Both the robot and the staff member were wearing shirts bearing the slogan “Future Era” – the name of a robotics store in Shenzhen, the southern Chinese technology hub that is home to tech giants including Huawei, Tencent and DJI.
The store, which opened last year, bills itself as the world’s first commercial robotics outlet and regularly hosts showcases featuring humanoid robots and robotic dogs. The robot seen dancing was a Unitree G1 model, according to the Daily Mail.
The store’s robots can be hired by the day for between 5000 and 20,000 yuan (roughly $1250 to $5000), reported the South China Morning Post.
Although the robots are still learning to dance, they are quickly becoming an important part of the Chinese economy.
British bank Barclays said China’s ageing population and low birthrate will mean 37 million fewer workers over the next 10 years. It estimated that more than 20 million of those jobs would be performed by humanoid robots.
The bank released a report this week saying humanoids are forecast to become a US$200 billion ($340b) market by 2035.