Humanoid Robot Games Spur China’s Real-World Push

China’s Tiangong Ultra humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 8.64 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games, surpassing Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second human record after engineers made dramatic improvements over the past year. The achievement highlights China’s growing strength in humanoid robotics, supported by state investment, competitive research centers and extensive manufacturing supply chains. Yet the Games also exposed the technology’s limitations: robots struggled with tasks such as plugging in cables, maintaining balance and performing precise movements, underscoring the gap between athletic demonstrations and dependable workplace performance. Organizers expanded the event to hundreds of teams and thousands of robots, adding competitions and practical simulations involving logistics, hospitality and household services. The industry’s commercial prospects remain uncertain, as investors weigh rapid production growth and soaring valuations against the need to improve robots’ reliability, dexterity and decision-making before they can perform useful work at scale.