{"id":208429,"date":"2026-04-21T14:12:40","date_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:12:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/in-a-race-between-humans-and-robots-machines-take-the-victory-in-a-sign-of-advancements-nbc-news\/"},"modified":"2026-04-21T14:12:40","modified_gmt":"2026-04-21T14:12:40","slug":"in-a-race-between-humans-and-robots-machines-take-the-victory-in-a-sign-of-advancements-nbc-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/quixnet.net\/wpinstance\/in-a-race-between-humans-and-robots-machines-take-the-victory-in-a-sign-of-advancements-nbc-news\/","title":{"rendered":"In a race between humans and robots, machines take the victory in a sign of advancements – NBC News"},"content":{"rendered":"

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BEIJING \u2014 It was not even close as a bright-red Chinese humanoid named \u201cLightning\u201d lived up to its name in a half-marathon pitting humans against robots, smoking its competition on Sunday.
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The bipedal humanoid<\/a>, developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor, blazed through the 13-mile race in just 50 minutes, 26 seconds, besting all 12,000 human competitors and even surpassing the human world record for a half-marathon, set by Ugandan long-distance runner Jacob Kiplimo in Lisbon last month, by nearly seven minutes.
Lightning was slowed down only slightly when it crashed into a railing near the end of the race, with the machine helped back up, recovering to make a dramatic finish.
It was a clean sweep for Honor\u2019s robots, which also took second and third place medals on the podium.
\u201cI felt very nervous,\u201d said Ma Huaze, captain of one of the winning Honor teams. \u201cThe biggest challenge was having the courage to perform and test large-scale upgrades on a major competitive stage like this.\u201d
The event in an industrial park area of Beijing featured more than a hundred robots, a significant increase from last year\u2019s inaugural race<\/a>, when several of the 21 participating humanoids stumbled, careened out of control or just laid down at the starting line, and only six managed to make it across the finish line.
The fastest robot last year, an imposing machine named Tiangong, took 2 hours and 40 minutes to complete the half-marathon, well below the speed of a human pro athlete.
There was no repeat of that humiliation this year, with China\u2019s technological advances on full display: At least four of the humanoids had sub-one-hour times, and there were far fewer units fritzing out. The real-life runners \u2014 who were in a parallel lane to avoid any human-on-robot collisions \u2014 were impressed by the speed of machines, some slowing down or stopping to take photos of their metallic competitors.
The fastest human to compete, 29-year-old Zhao Haijie, who ran the race in 1 hour, 7 minutes and 47 seconds, said the robots were really on the move within the first 3 miles.
\u201cI felt it was going quite fast,\u201d Zhao said in an interview with NBC News after the race. \u201cIt just went whoosh right past me.\u201d
Nearly 40% of the robots were autonomous and running the full distance on their own as they navigated turns, uneven terrain and other obstacles. Other competitors were operated by remote control, with finishing times adjusted to reflect the different categories.
\u201cI can feel the rapid advancements in our country\u2019s technology,\u201d said Liu Yanli, a 41-year-old financial worker watching from the sidelines with his family.
\u201cFor those of us in middle age, it gives us a great sense of security for the future,\u201d he said. Liu\u2019s 6-year-old son, Jinyu, said he liked the robots \u201ccarrying a lot of things on them.\u201d
The swarm of high-speed machines looked a bit like science fiction, yet behind the spectacle is a higher-stakes competition between China and the U.S. to develop next-generation humanoids powered by artificial intelligence<\/a>.
For Xue Qingheng, the race was a public stress test of changes his startup company, Intercity Technology Co., has made to its humanoid model over the past year. The child-size robot named Xiao Cheng has been outfitted with improved motor speed and coordination, as well as better feet, sensors and gait algorithm.
\u201cFor us, this process is really about competing against who we were last year,\u201d Xue said in an interview at the company\u2019s studio in Beijing before the event. \u201cThis year, we are only racing against ourselves.\u201d
The race champion is set to receive orders worth over a million yuan, or $146,500, according to city officials organizing the event, as well as capturing attention in a country that has more than 150 humanoid-making companies and research labs. Hundreds of millions of people watched livestream coverage of the race across various platforms.
An intense focus on robotics and AI in China is no accident, with the state providing subsidies for development as well as demand in a top-down strategy to dominate an industry it regards as a \u201cnational priority.\u201d
China already dominates the supply chain for AI chips, sensors and batteries, while Beijing\u2019s latest master plan for 2026-2030 sets out a blueprint for futuristic technologies, including brain chips, quantum computing and factories manned by robots that look and move like people.
Backers of humanoid technology say they could be a fixture of industrial and daily life in the not-so-distant future, doing everything from fixing electrical grids to caring for the elderly.
While China is poised to be at the forefront of development, this year\u2019s half-marathon event was not without its setbacks. Teams of technicians followed robots along the course in golf carts, many with stretchers and wheelchairs at the ready in case of trouble.
One robot flipped and face-planted about 200 feet from the starting line, then continued the race with its upper body held together with packing tape. Another humanoid triumphantly crossed the finish line, then promptly veered off course and fell into a bush.
Among all the fast and futuristic models, Xiao Pai, a cute, 2-foot-tall companion robot, bounced along the road carrying a baby bottle.
\u201cRobots today have the body of Mike Tyson but are still missing a brain like Stephen Hawking,\u201d said Xue, whose robot, Xiao Cheng, successfully finished the race.
\u201cOnce the brain problem is solved, the scope for imagination here is immense.\u201d
Janis Mackey Frayer is a Beijing-based correspondent for NBC News.
Dawn Liu is a researcher for NBC News based in Beijing.
Erin Tan is a news researcher in NBC News\u2019s Beijing bureau.
© 2026 NBCUniversal Media, LLC<\/p>\n

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