China is betting on a future with humanoid robots. When will it arrive?
Illustration by Pete Ryan
Some 500 machines from 16 countries starred in the first World Humanoid Robot Games held in August in Beijing, where they cleaned rooms, folded laundry, played soccer and kickboxed. The Games were meant to showcase the strides China has made in robotics, by taking the machines out of their labs. But the event was equally revealing of their limitations.
A humanoid robot runs into an operator at the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games. Video via Newsflare
On the running track and fo
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