China showcases backflipping, sword-wielding humanoid robots
China has showcased its rapid progress in developing humanoid tech with a jaw-dropping performance by a group of nunchuck-wielding robots – leaving us wondering what the robo future holds
READING LEVEL: ORANGE
The robot revolution has landed.
China’s annual Spring Festival Gala caused a stir across the world this week after humanoid* robots performed a complex martial arts routine with jaw-dropping stunts.
Comparable to the US Superbowl in terms of popularity, the Spring Festival Gala is one of China’s most watched TV shows each year and is part of the country’s Lunar New Year* celebrations.
This year’s show featured robot demonstrations from four humanoid start up companies: Unitree Robotics, Galbot, Noetix and MagicLab. The program included a choreographed* martial arts performance where more than a dozen Unitree humanoids performed flips, fight sequences and waved swords, poles and nunchucks alongside child performers.
In a world where AI* generated footage has become hard to tell apart from reality, multiple international news agencies questioned whether the footage was real but it has since been verified using fact checking methods employed by traditional media.
Other items in the line-up featured Noetix humanoid robots alongside humans in a comedy skit, and MagicLab robots performing a synchronised dance alongside human performers to the song We Are Made in China.
Evrim Kanbur, an Adjunct Professor at various universities in China, shared a video of the Unitree humanoids’ elaborate martial arts routine on X, explaining how quickly the technology had been developed.
“Last year, humanoid robots stepped onto the Spring Festival Gala stage for the first time,” she wrote.
“This year, they held synchronised Kung Fu stances with balance that would humble half of us after leg day*,” she added.
“The progress in just one year is magical. That’s what we call China speed.”
Respected news agency Reuters reported last year’s performance involved 16 full-size Unitree humanoids twirling handkerchiefs and dancing in time with humans.
Georg Stieler, Asia managing director and head of robotics and automation* at technology consultancy Stieler, told Reuters the CCTV show had a long tradition of highlighting China’s tech ambitions. He said the advancement in the robots’ abilities to control their movements and balance so well had to do with Unitree’s focus on using AI software to help humanoids complete fine motor tasks in real world settings – a bit like building robot “brains”.
“It’s been just one year – and the performance jump is striking,” Mr Stieler told Reuters.
The online reactions to this year’s gala performance were mixed.
Some social media users were nervous about what the Chinese robots might be capable of, while others found humour in the spectacle.
“It’s okay, we have our own technology too. Maybe if they attack we can have Chat GPT tell them to stop. Maybe even write an email for them,” one joked on X.
“Crazy, but I’d be more impressed if I saw a bunch of these bots mowing lawns and painting houses,” said another.
The development of humanoids is a fast-growing sector in China, with President Xi Jinping having met five robotics start-up founders in the past year.
According to research firm Omdia, China was responsible for 90 per cent of the roughly 13,000 humanoid robots shipped around the world last year, giving it a much greater share of the market than US rivals like Tesla’s Optimus, Reuters reports.
It is a trend that looks set to continue. Financial services firm Morgan Stanley has forecast that China’s humanoid sales will more than double to 28,000 units in 2026.
Reuters reports Tesla’s Elon Musk has previously rated China as the biggest competitor for Tesla’s flagship* humanoid Optimus.
Just weeks ago, Musk told the Davos World Economic Forum* he was confident humanoid robots would be sold to the public by the end of 2027, and that there would be more robots than human beings within the decade.
WHAT DOES THE FUTURE HOLD?
The AI driven robot revolution poses many important questions for humanity to consider.
In an interview with broadcaster and media outlet Al Jazeera, University of California (UCLA) artificial intelligence policy specialist and lecturer Dr Ramesh Srinivasan said the use of humanoid robots in society would reshape “our futures, economically, militarily and even personally, as people turn to robots and AI as therapists, companions and even potential mates.”
“What happens when AI is in these robotic forms?” Dr Srinivasan asked in the Al Jazeera interview. “What is this going to mean for working-class people economically? What about the emergence of more and more humanoid robots on the battlefield?”
He said as humans we needed to ask ourselves, “Do we really want this?”
“What are the appropriate domains* for these humanoid robots and domains that are inappropriate for us?” he said.
“For me, it’s really about reinvesting in the human condition and the ways we want to work with technologies to have a flourishing future.
“But first and foremost, everyone needs to feel more secure and taken care of, because in the US, AI is more and more disentangling* us from one another, and there’s clear research showing that.”
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GLOSSARY
- humanoid: a robot that resembles a human
- Lunar New Year: the start of the new year based the lunisolar calendar and an important event in China and many other Asian countries
- choreographed: a series of movements planned out very carefully
- AI: Artificial Intelligence, the ability for software to perform tasks based on machine learning and complex reasoning guided by pattern recognition and the absorption of huge amounts of data
- leg day: an intense workout of the legs that leaves you feeling wobbly
- automation: the application of technology and systems to perform tasks with very little or no human intervention
- flagship: the most important product of a company
- Davos World Economic Forum: an annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland that is invitation only where some of the top political, cultural and business leaders discuss the major economic issues of the day
- domains: places or areas in life
- disentangling: separating
EXTRA READING
Is this ‘humanoid’ a real robot?
R2-D2 by the end of the decade?
Giddy up for the Year of the Horse
QUICK QUIZ
1. What were some of the amazing stunts the Chinese humanoids performed at the gala?
2. To what does Georg Stieler credit the robots’ better ability to balance and move?
3. How many humanoids were shipped around the world last year?
4. What percentage of these were manufactured by Chinese companies?
5. When does Elon Musk believe humanoids will be sold to the public?
LISTEN TO THIS STORY
CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES
1. How would they check?
How do you think the media checked if the robots were real and not AI? Write a list of steps or actions that could prove that the robots were real.
Time: allow at least 15 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English, Information Technologies
2. Extension
Write a comedy skit that includes human performers and humanoid robots.
Time: allow at least 30 minutes to complete this activity
Curriculum Links: English
VCOP ACTIVITY
Vocabulary recycle
There is some vivid vocabulary being used in the article, and I am not just talking about the glossary words. Go through the article and highlight the high-level language that you are impressed by in yellow.
See if you can borrow two of these wow words to reuse in your own way.
Remember vocabulary is a great way to connect with the audience, but you need to think about who your audience is so you make great word choices.
Who will the audience be in your recycled sentences?