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Humanoid robot development race 2026

One page that accretes the verified record as the story develops. Every fact keeps its date and its sources.

7 DAYS
102 FACTS
13 EVENTS
13 SOURCES
FIRST ENTRY AUG 20
AUG 26 · Day 7

Temasek-backed investor pitches Singapore as path for Chinese robots to US market

Unitree Robotics is among the portfolio companies of Vertex Ventures.

Choon Chong Tay is the managing partner at Vertex Ventures China.

Vertex Ventures manages nearly $3 billion across U.S. dollar- and yuan-denominated funds.

“That makes the U.S. a meaningful market for Unitree, and losing access could noticeably affect its revenue growth,”
KANGYUXIAO LI verbatim
AUG 24 · Day 5

Humanoid robots and the future of warfare

Humanoid robots are breaking world records in sports.

Al Jazeera's Ava Warriner reported on who is investing in humanoid robots, what armies want them for, and whether they are a new frontier in the global tech race.

Humanoid robots are increasingly being developed and tested for military use.

AUG 24 · Day 5

CNBC China Connection newsletter on AI for robot skills

Alibaba's cloud division revenue totaled 48.4 billion yuan, up 45% year-on-year.

Pop Mart's China revenue rose 47.3% for the first six months of the year, driving overall sales growth of 23.8% to 17.17 billion yuan ($2.55 billion).

QJ Robots CEO Haichuan Gao and CTO Tianren Zhang both have PhDs in automation from Tsinghua University.

AUG 23 · Day 4

Inaugural World Humanoid Games held featuring autonomous robotics competitions

The second edition of the World Humanoid Robot Games commenced in China on a Saturday.

The competition was scheduled to last five days.

The event was hosted in Beijing.

AUG 23 · Day 4

World Humanoid Robot Games open in Beijing

More than 650 teams from across 16 countries are gathered in China for the World Humanoid Robot Games.

The World Humanoid Robot Games opened in Beijing.

AUG 23 · Day 4

Chinese humanoid robot breaks 100m sprint record at humanoid games

Tianzhuo defeated two other Chinese-built robots to win the race at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.

A Chinese humanoid robot ran 100 meters in 9.39 seconds, surpassing Usain Bolt's world record time of 9.58 seconds.

The robot 'Tianzhuo' was developed by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics.

AUG 22 · Day 3

Humanoid Robot Runs 100m Under Usain Bolt's Record Time at World Robot Games

Lightning reached a top speed of 14.5 metres per second during a preparatory test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing.

Usain Bolt set the men's 100-metre world record of 9.58 seconds at the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

Lightning won the 21-kilometre Beijing half marathon in April with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds.

AUG 22 · Day 3

Humanoid Robot Outpaces Usain Bolt's 100-Meter World Record

Chinese smartphone maker Honor stated that its robot ran the distance in 9.32 seconds during a test run.

A humanoid robot developed by the Beijing Innovation Centre of Humanoid Robotics ran the 100m sprint in 9.39 seconds at the World Humanoid Robot Games in China.

Events at the World Humanoid Robot Games include boxing, football, and household tasks such as folding laundry.

AUG 21 · Day 2

Chinese humanoid robots' biggest obstacle is human capability

Unitree's founder Wang Xingxing said that robots are not yet as efficient as humans and take time to learn new skills.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission added foreign-made advanced robotic devices to a list restricting imports to the U.S.

Shares of Unitree fell 18.7% on Thursday.

“What I hear from customers in the U.S. [is that] 'we want solutions. We have a problem. We need a solution. We don't care if it's a humanoid. We don't care if it's a traditional robot, a collaborative robot. We don't even care if it's a robot. We need a solution,”
JEFF BURNSTEIN verbatim
AUG 20 · Day 1

Unitree founder says humanoid robots' ChatGPT moment could be 10 years away

“had incredible shows of skills over the last couple of years to showcase the precision, the ability, the dexterity of these robots. It's definitely a defining moment,”
PAOLO ARDOINO verbatim
AUG 19

Chinese company unveils fast-running robot

ABC News reported the robot can jump over 6.5 feet vertically

ABC News described the robot as able to outrun sprinter Usain Bolt

ABC News anchor David Muir interviewed the company in May

AUG 19

Unitree shares surge in Shanghai market debut

Unitree's IPO was the first listing of a humanoid robotics company in mainland China.

Unitree reported shipping more than 5,500 humanoid robots to customers worldwide last year.

Unitree's main competitors include China's AgiBot and US-based Tesla and Boston Dynamics.

“It is one of the few companies in humanoid robotics with genuine revenue, profitability and meaningful production volume,”
RINAT MIRZAITOV verbatim
AUG 19

Chinese robotics company Unitree soars in stock market debut

Unitree is based in Hangzhou, in eastern China.

Unitree shipped more than 5,500 humanoid robots in 2025.

Boston Dynamics has said it will roll out human-like machines in Hyundai's factories in two years' time.

“We no longer hear about American robotics companies in the news. It's the Chinese robot companies that are making news today,”
DAVID HSU verbatim
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