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

They were trailing behind their human rivals a year ago. But on Sunday, an android outpaced the entire field to run a half-marathon faster than even the quickest human.

Humanoid robots aren’t “coming soon” anymore — they’re already here, already shipping, and already being deployed in the real world. In this video, we break down six of the most important humanoid robots right now,

A self-navigating humanoid robot named Lightning has shattered the human half-marathon world record during the 2026 Beijing E-Town Humanoid Robot Half-Marathon. Clocking in at 50 minutes and 26 seconds, Lightning outpaced Uganda’s Jacob Kiplimo’s 57:20 ...

The dream of deploying humanoid robots in every home has created a new type of job. The only requirements are a head strap, a smartphone and a list of chores.