A robot named Lightning has run the 100m in 9.32 seconds, beating the human world record, China’s state broadcaster has reported.
The humanoid, developed by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, reached a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second during a test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which begin on Saturday. The performance surpassed the 9.58sec men’s 100m world record set by Usain Bolt 17 years ago at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.
A robot dives for the ball during a tennis match with a human player in Beijing. Photograph: Florence Lo/Reuters
China has been promoting humanoid robots as an emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that advances in AI and hardware will accelerate their deployment in manufacturing, logistics and consumer applications.
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Lightning also won the Beijing half marathon in April in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the men’s world record. The robot stood 169cm tall and had 95cm-long legs at the half marathon. Researchers have since lengthened its legs by 10cm for these Games.