On April 19, in Beijing, over a hundred Chinese humanoid robots participated in a half-marathon, running alongside 12,000 competitors, Reuters reports. Last year, the first such race was less successful: most robots failed to finish, with the best time being 2 hours and 40 minutes — more than twice the fastest human result. In 2024, the number of robots increased to over 100, with several completing the course significantly faster than the professionals, outperforming the winners by over 10 minutes.
Notably, almost half of the robots operated autonomously, without remote control. The winner, developed by Honor (a Huawei subsidiary), completed the distance in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, surpassing the previous world record set by Ugandan athlete Jacob Kiplimo in March in Lisbon by 6 minutes and 12 seconds. Honor robots also claimed the top three positions, all functioning autonomously and setting new world records.