A humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor has completed the 100-meter dash in 9.32 seconds, breaking the world record of Jamaican track legend Usain Bolt, according to China Central Television (CCTV).
The robot, named Lightning, reached a top speed of 14.5 meters per second during a trial competition ahead of the second World Humanoid Robot Games, which opened in Beijing on Saturday.
The time beats the men's 100m world record of 9.58 seconds set by Bolt at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.
China is promoting humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that advances in artificial intelligence and hardware will accelerate robot adoption in manufacturing, logistics, and consumer applications.
Earlier, Lightning also won the 21-kilometer Beijing half marathon in April with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, faster than the world record pace for male runners.
At the time of the half marathon, the robot stood 169 cm tall with 95 cm legs. Researchers later extended its legs by 10 cm to 105 cm ahead of the World Humanoid Robot Games, according to CCTV.
