A premapped course, a crew of handlers and a world-beating time: here’s what this Beijing half marathon reveals about how far humanoid robots have come—and how far they haven’t

BEIJING — It was not even close as a bright red Chinese humanoid named “Lightning” lived up to its name in a half-marathon pitting humans against robots, smoking its competition on Sunday

Figure is delivering new Figure 03 humanoid robot units faster than ever before. The big question: how long can this monthly doubling last?

A joint venture between two Chinese firms has switched on what it describes as China’s first automated production line for humanoid robots, and the partners say the facility can assemble one complete unit every 30 minutes.

The android won a race featuring robots and humans on Sunday in Beijing, achieving a technological milestone while finishing faster than any person in history.

Ace isn't the first ping-pong playing robot. Researchers have long been interested in the sport because of its speed and real-time decision-making, which is a major frontier in robotics. In this respect, Ace marks a milestone for the AI system and for the highly reliable arm.

Move aside mouth-breathers, an autonomous humanoid robot has bettered human runners at the Beijing Half Marathon by clocking a world-record time of 50 minutes 26 seconds.

Optimus is a bipedal, autonomous humanoid robot designed for various tasks, from factory work to household duties. Tesla plans to convert part of its Fremont, California factory from car production to an Optimus robot factory. Tesla CEO Elon Musk predicted its Optimus robot will soon be his company's most important product.

Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. For decades, automation reshaped American industry with little drama. Robotic machines took over dangerous and repetitive tasks in auto plants. Machines like laser screeds transformed ...