Bionic Humanoid Robot News Anchor Debuts at Beijing Summit
The robot made its official debut on Nov. 5 at the World Media Summit. Other reports describe humanoid robots playing table tennis and boxing, and a factory robot that its maker says is built to work without a safety cage.
By the Open Scoring Sports newsroom ·
Bionic humanoid robot news anchor debuts at Beijing summit
The world’s first bionic humanoid robot news anchor made its official debut on Nov. 5 at a sub-forum on artificial intelligence and Chinese modernization during the 7th World Media Summit in Beijing, Xinhua reported. A Beijing News headline said director Zhang Yimou revealed the design concept behind the anchor’s image.
Humanoid robots play table tennis and demonstrate martial arts in South Korea
At Robotworld 2026 in Goyang, South Korea, VTV.vn reported that a humanoid robot played table tennis with visitors while other robots demonstrated boxing, martial arts and bar-jumping. One robot reacted to and returned balls in a way that surprised players.
The four-day exhibition brought together more than 400 businesses from 17 countries, with nearly 1,200 booths. Companies also presented automation technology for manufacturing, logistics, health care and elder care; some said they expected robots to become widely used in homes within three to five years.
Humanoid robot loses a hand during boxing demonstration in Shanghai
Two humanoid robots traded punches at AGIBOT Innovation Day in Shanghai before one robot’s hand flew off, Xinhua reported.
Swiss startup unveils wheeled robot it says can work beside factory staff
Lausanne-based Embodied AI unveiled AIR, a two-armed robot on a wheeled base that the company says can work alongside factory staff without a safety cage. CEO Francesco Stella presented it at Humanoid Europe 2026 in Munich, and the startup said it would open orders after the unveiling.
AIR has a torso, two arms and a head on a wheeled base, rather than legs. Embodied AI says it keeps heavy components in the torso and uses cables to drive the arms, which are designed to yield on contact. Investor Angelo Burgarello described an arm that weighs 2 kilograms and can lift 5 kilograms; the company has not published the robot’s full payload or other specifications including its height, weight and battery life.
Unitree robot showcase at UFC event was an exhibition, report says
Unitree Robotics showed humanoid robots in a combat exhibition with UFC chief executive Dana White before UFC Fight Night 257 in Shanghai on Aug. 23, 2025, according to Roboxing’s review of reports. It was a promotional showcase, not a scored fight, and accounts disagree about the robot model and whether it was remotely controlled.
The available reports do not identify a winner, score or official result. Roboxing said nothing it reviewed described a robot choosing its own moves in the ring.
Robot-fighting leagues set different bout lengths, report finds
There is no standard bout length across humanoid robot-fighting leagues, according to Roboxing. The report said Shadow Combat League described bouts of up to 15 minutes, while media accounts of URKL described five rounds of five minutes each, with tactical timeouts.
Roboxing also reported two-minute rounds for REK and 150-second rounds for ARC. It said it could not find published round lengths for Ultimate Bots, RFC, CMG2026 or CyberHero.
Sources (9)
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