The Company Behind the World’s Fastest Robot Has Big Plans
In a few short years, Beijing’s state-backed Tiangong program has evolved from a clunky machine barely able to keep pace with a slow jogger to smashing human athletic records.
The World Humanoid Robot Games is an international competition where humanoids from research labs, startups, and major robotics firms compete in events that test mobility, balance, manipulation, and real-world task performance. Beijing held the first event in 2025.
In a few short years, Beijing’s state-backed Tiangong program has evolved from a clunky machine barely able to keep pace with a slow jogger to smashing human athletic records.
Sparks flew, quite literally, as Beijing became the center of a rapidly accelerating global robotics race that just entered a new phase.
At first, the world laughed at China’s humanoid robotics ambitions. Then the tone shifted as its engineers developed increasingly capable and humanlike machines.
The first-ever World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing offered a peak into a robot-run future that China intends to dominate.
The leading Chinese robotics firm Unitree dominated the first day of Beijing’s World Humanoid Robot Games.
As tensions simmer between the US and China, it’s manifesting into bold displays where innovation doubles as a show of power.