Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt’s 100m world record in test run

In a test run, a humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor has clocked a 100-meter sprint time of 9.32 seconds, surpassing the human world record held by Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, according to China’s state broadcaster. Dubbed Lightning, the robot reached a top speed of 14.5 meters per second during the preparatory test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which commenced in Beijing on Saturday.

This time surpassed Bolt's 9.58-second men’s 100-meter world record set at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in 2009. China has been positioning humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with both government officials and businesses anticipating advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and hardware to expedite their use in manufacturing, logistics, and consumer applications.

Earlier this year, Lightning also won the 21km Beijing half marathon in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, outpacing the elite men’s human world-record pace. The robot stands at 169cm tall and had 95cm legs during the half marathon. However, researchers have since extended its legs by 10cm to 1.05m in preparation for the World Humanoid Robot Games, reported China Central Television.