Chinese robot runs 100M sprint quicker than Usain Bolt's world record

A humanoid robot named Lightning has sprinted the 100m in 9.32 seconds, surpassing the previous men's world record of 9.58 seconds held by Usain Bolt. The robot, developed by Honor, a Chinese smartphone manufacturer, reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during a test event at the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.

The game, which began on Saturday, saw over 2,000 humanoid robots participating in more than 1,000 competitions, including running, table tennis, and football. China has been promoting humanoid robots as an emerging industry, with the technology race against the US intensifying. The robot, standing at 169cm tall with 95cm-long legs, won the Beijing half marathon in April with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the men's world record.

The five-day games, now in its second year, are being held in the National Speed Skating Oval built for the 2022 Winter Olympics. Meanwhile, the US has banned the import of new foreign-made humanoid robots citing national security reasons. Experts note that humanoid robots are currently mostly used for demonstrations, performances, and research, with mass real-world deployment still some time away.