Chinese robot runs 100m sprint quicker than Usain Bolt’s world record

A ⁠robot named Lightning ⁠has run ​the 100m in 9.32 seconds, ⁠beating the human world ⁠record, China’s ​state broadcaster ‌has reported.

The humanoid, developed by Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, ‌reached a peak speed of 14.5 metres per second during ‌a test event for ​the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which ⁠begin on Saturday. The ​performance surpassed ​the ​9.58sec men’s ​100m world record ​set ​by Usain Bolt 17 years ago at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin.

A robot dives for the ball during a tennis match with a human player in Beijing. Photograph: Florence Lo/Reuters

China has been promoting humanoid robots as an emerging industry, with policymakers and companies ‌betting that advances in AI and hardware will accelerate their deployment in manufacturing, logistics ​and consumer applications.

Lightning also won the Beijing half marathon in April in 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the men’s world record. The robot stood 169cm tall and ​had ​95cm-long legs at ​the half marathon. Researchers have since lengthened ​its legs ‌by 10​cm for these Games.