After decades of being tortured, shoved, kicked, burned, and bludgeoned, robots are finally getting their chance to fight back. Sort of.Â
Over the weekend, Chinese robotics maker Unitree live-streamed what it called the world’s first boxing match between humanoid robots. The event, titled Unitree Iron Fist King: Awakening, featured a tournament-style face-off between four of Unitree’s 4.3-foot-tall G1 robots. The robots were reportedly remotely controlled by human engineers, though they briefly demonstrated some autonomous, pre-programmed actions as well.
“AI Strategist’s” journey to victoryÂ
One of the more interesting moments of the event occurred during a semifinal match between a pink-helmeted robot called “Silk Artisan” and its black-helmeted opponent, “AI Strategist.” During a tense third round, Silk Artisan tried to recover from an aggressive kick to the shin but stumbled to the floor, eventually performing a full-on accidental split. AI Strategist stepped toward its fallen opponent and began gesticulating wildly with its arms in a boastful, braggadocious manner. Victory seemed imminent, with the human referees shouting, “One, two, three!” Then, suddenly, the gloating robot tripped over its opponent’s head and fell face-first to the ground. For a moment, with both robots sprawled on the floor, it looked like the match would end in a humiliating draw. But then the black-helmeted robot rose to its feet. It had emerged victorious.
AI Strategist and its human overseer went on to compete against a green-helmeted robot named “Energy Guardian.” This match was far more decisive. AI Strategist scored knockouts in all three rounds and, maybe just as importantly, managed to avoid clumsily tripping over itself. The robot-human team was awarded a glass-plated trophy following the match as confetti shot into the sky around them. AI Strategist had fought back from the brink of defeat and was crowned the first humanoid robot boxing champion.
How the robots prepared for battleÂ
Video released by Unitree earlier this month shows the robots, boxing gloves strapped on, “training” with their human coaches. The petite robots throw a few hooks with their arms before being pushed to the ground. One quickly gets back up and, after briefly struggling to face the right direction, spins around and delivers a straight kick, 300-style. Unitree claims its robots use a motion-capture training system that helps them learn from past mistakes and improve over time. The two robots also previewed some of their moves at an elementary school in Hangzhou, China, last week.
Video released by Unitree earlier this month shows the robots, boxing gloves strapped on, “training” with their human coaches. The petite robots throw a few hooks with their arms before being pushed to the ground. One quickly gets back up and, after briefly struggling to face the right direction, spins around and delivers a straight kick, 300-style. Unitree claims its robots use a motion-capture training system that helps them learn from past mistakes and improve over time.
The training video also shows the two robots briefly sparring with each other. The clacking sound of steel fills the room as they exchange a flurry of punches. At one point, both simultaneously deliver knee kicks to each other’s groin area, sending the robot in blue gear tumbling to the ground.
“The robot is actively learning even more here skills,” the company notes in a caption towards the end of the video.Â
Related: [Worryingly bendy humanoid robot can crush nuts, slice Coke bottles]
Humans have a long history of forcing robots to fightÂ
The human tendency to force robots to fight for our amusement isn’t entirely new. The show Battle Bots, which dates back to the late 1990s revolved around engineers creating and designing remote-controlled robots, often armed to the teeth with electric saws and flamethrowers, and forcing them to duke it out. Many, many robots were reduced to scrap metal over the show’s 12 seasons.Â
Since then, engineers around the world have been experimenting with new ways to teach bipedal, humanoid robots how to throw punches and land kicks without stumbling or falling. Sometimes these machines are remotely controlled by human operators. In other cases, semi-autonomous robots have learned to “mirror” physical movements observed in humans. More advanced autonomous robots, like those being developed by Boston Dynamics and Figure, can move around their environment and perform pre-programmed actions. Neither of those companies, it’s worth noting, have announced any plans to make their robots fight.Â
China is quickly becoming a center stage for public displays of humanoid robot athletic competition. Last month, more than 20 robotics companies entered their robots into a half-marathon race in Beijing, where they competed against each other and human runners. The results were underwhelming. Media reports from the event claimed many of the machines failed to make it past the starting line. Others veered off course, with one reportedly even crashing into a barrier. The first robot to cross the finish line—a machine designed by the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center—did so nearly an hour and forty minutes after the first human completed the race. Only six robots finished.
UPDATE, May 27, 2025, 5:45pm ET: This story has been updated to reflect the results of the boxing match.
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