The humanoid robot Lightning has beaten the human world record for the 100-meter sprint.
A humanoid robot named Lightning, developed by the Chinese smartphone manufacturer Honor, completed the 100-meter sprint in 9.32 seconds. This performance surpassed the 9.58-second men's world record set by Usain Bolt in 2009. The robot reached a peak speed of 14.5 meters per second during a preparatory test event for the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing. China is currently promoting humanoid robots as a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies investing in AI and hardware to accelerate deployment in manufacturing, logistics, and consumer applications. Lightning previously won the Beijing half marathon in April with a time of 50 minutes and 26 seconds, which was also faster than the human world record. To optimize performance for thes Games, researchers lengthened the robot's legs by 10 centimeters, bringing them to a total length of 1.05 meters.