Chinese robots beat the human records in the 100-metre and 400-metre races at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, which opened on Saturday for a five-day run, showcasing rapid advances in artificial intelligence-driven robotics technology.
The Tien Kung Ultra robot developed by Beijing Innovation Center of Humanoid Robotics Co finished the 100-metre preliminary heat Saturday in 9.32 seconds, beating the 9.58-second world record set by Jamaica's Usain Bolt in Berlin in 2009. After finishing the race, the machine crashed into a mat set up for deceleration and caught fire.
The same humanoid model clocked 38.15 seconds in the 400-metre final Sunday, faster than the 43.03-second world record logged by South Africa's Wayde van Niekerk during the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics.
