Walker S2 is an adult-sized humanoid robot with legs, a torso, and arms. China is sending these robots to patrol their border with Vietnam.

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

Runners and spectators alike taking part in the 2026 Boston Marathon Monday may have been fortunate enough to visit with the Optimus Bot from Tesla Inc TSLA, a humanoid robot set for future mass production.

In an interview with CNBC, Ling noted that current use cases for humanoid robots remain “fairly restrictive,” confined mostly to performances at events like the CCTV Spring Gala, concerts, marathons, and boxing matches.

China's robotics industry is growing at an alarming rate. Interesting Engineering reports the country's factory-based adoptions grew by 300,000 in a year, surpassing the rest of the world. In the same time frame, American factories installed just 34,000 robots

Unitree Robotics began selling its cheapest humanoid robot on Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.’s AliExpress on Wednesday, expanding its international presence in a white-hot race featuring heavyweight players like Elon Musk’s Tesla Inc.