TianGong Ultra humanoid robot outruns Usain Bolt at Beijing Games | Fox News

If your mental image of a humanoid robot still involves stiff knees and awkward demos, you may want to update it. A Chinese humanoid robot has now covered 100 meters faster than Usain Bolt's 9.58-second human world record. At the opening of Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games, an X-Humanoid robot completed the 100-meter sprint in 9.39 seconds. Then the number dropped again. As robot bodies become faster and stronger, artificial intelligence continues improving at the same time. A more capable body could perform difficult physical work. Better AI could help that machine understand what it sees and determine what to do next. Put those advances together and humanoids become much more interesting. We recently showed you another humanoid demonstrating impressive running and movement skills. The biggest hurdle now may become less about making a robot move and more about making sure it makes good decisions once it gets there.

What this means to you X-Humanoid announced on Aug. 25 that TianGong Ultra ultimately posted a 9.32-second time during the competition. The company says its robots reset the mark several times during roughly two hours of racing. Before anybody starts rewriting the Olympic record books, keep some perspective. Bolt still holds the official men's 100-meter world record recognized by World Athletics. These robots compete under their own rules in a separate event.

CHINESE ROBOT BREAKS HUMAN WORLD RECORD IN BEIJING HALF-MARATHON

Still, look at how quickly this technology is moving. For me, the bigger story goes far beyond a robot beating Bolt's time. We are watching humanoid machines go from clumsy demonstrations to increasingly capable physical systems at remarkable speed.