Chinese state television rang in the Year of the Horse with humanoid robots doing kung fu, comedy sketches and mass choreography. They made complex martial arts choreography look easy. Social media was flooded with memes about “machines replacing humans”.
But the show was more than theatre. It was a prime-time industrial signal.
Beijing has long used the annual Chinese new year gala to showcase its technological ambitions, with previous shows highlighting drones, robotics and the space program.
