A humanoid robot has shattered the men's half-marathon world record at a race in Beijing, completing the roughly 21-kilometre course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds — beating the human record by nearly seven minutes. The winning machine, named Lightning and built by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, averaged around 25km/h throughout the event, outpacing the existing record of 57:20 set by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo. The race took place in Yizhuang, a district in the south of the Chinese capital, where human and robot competitors ran in separate lanes to prevent collisions.
More than 100 humanoid robots took part in this year's event, up from around 20 at the inaugural race last year — when the best robot needed over two hours and 40 minutes to finish and many machines fell repeatedly along the route. Sunday's result signals how rapidly the technology has matured. Lightning ran equipped with an autonomous navigation system, and some other robot competitors moved with striking agility, drawing comparisons to elite human sprinters. The dramatic improvement in just twelve months drew large crowds of spectators, though the robots were moving fast enough that many barely had time to photograph them as they passed.
The event is designed to promote innovation and build public enthusiasm for humanoid robotics, a sector that has seen enormous investment in China. According to a government-linked study, investment in robotics and so-called embodied AI — systems where artificial intelligence is embedded in a physical machine that interacts with the world — reached 73.5 billion yuan (approximately $10.8 billion) in China in 2025. Humanoid robots have become an increasingly familiar presence in Chinese public life, and the technology features prominently in the country's five-year development plan, with state support for companies aiming to expand into overseas markets including Europe.
Spectators at Sunday's race expressed a mixture of awe and unease. Han Chenyu, a 25-year-old student, described the event as "pretty cool" but added that the pace of technological change made her worry about its impact on employment. Another onlooker, Xie Lei, took a broader view, suggesting robots could enter daily life within years — helping with housework, elderly care, or dangerous jobs such as firefighting. "For thousands of years, humans have been at the top on planet Earth," he said. "But now, look at robots." The event organisers say their goal is not to replace human athletes, but to showcase and accelerate the capabilities of machines that may soon work alongside people in everyday settings.