Smartphone maker Honor’s humanoid robot has broken China’s men’s world record, leaving humans far behind.
Published April 19, 2026
A humanoid robot competing against live runners broke a world record in the Beijing half-marathon, demonstrating the rapid technological advances made by Chinese manufacturers.
On Sunday, spectators lined the roads in the city of Yizhuang in the south of the capital to watch a race between machine and human rivals, with groups lining up in separate lanes to avoid accidents and collisions.
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Some of the robots were agile, like famous runners like Usain Bolt, while others had more basic functions.
The winning humanoid robot, equipped with an autonomous navigation system and traveling for Chinese smartphone maker Honor, completed the approximately 21km (13 miles) course in 50 minutes and 26 seconds at an average speed of about 25 km/h (15.5 mph), state broadcaster CCTV said.
This was much faster than the leaders in Sunday’s race, and also beat the current men’s world record of 57 minutes and 20 seconds held by Ugandan runner Jacob Kiplimo.
The results marked a significant improvement from last year, when robot runners repeatedly fell and took at best more than two hours and 40 minutes to finish.
According to organizers, the number of entries for humanoid robots has jumped from about 20 last year to more than 100, showing the growing popularity of this field.
“Pretty cool”
Han Chengyu, a 25-year-old student who was watching the race from behind a safety fence, didn’t have time to pull out his smartphone and take a photo as the leading robot zipped past.
She told AFP news agency that she was enthusiastic about such technological leaps and thought the event was “pretty amazing”.
But, she added, “As someone who works for a living, I sometimes get a little worried. I feel like technology is advancing so fast that it’s starting to affect people’s jobs,” especially as artificial intelligence (AI) becomes more and more sophisticated.
In recent years, humanoid robots have become a common sight in China, not only in public places but also in the media.
Xie Lei, 41, who watched Sunday’s race with his family, said robots could “become a part of our daily lives” within a few years, and could be used for “housework, caring for the elderly, basic care,” as well as “dangerous work and even firefighting.”
The Humanoid Half Marathon aims to foster innovation and popularize the technologies used to create and operate such machines.
In a sign of the industry’s strength, investment in robotics and so-called physical AI in China reached 73.5 billion yuan ($10.8 billion) in 2025, according to a government study.
“For thousands of years, humans have reigned supreme on the planet. But now look at the robots. They’re already starting to overtake humans in terms of autonomous navigation, at least in this particular sporting event,” Xie said.
“On the one hand, I feel it’s a little sad for humanity. But at the same time, especially in recent years, technology has given us a lot of imagination.”
