500 Humanoid Robots Compete in Sports Games: Dancing, Modeling, and Speed Trials

A new direct "PK" for humanoid robots is here.

On the evening of August 14, the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games officially opened. This pinnacle showdown, gathering teams from five continents across 16 countries with over 280 teams and more than 500 humanoid robots, is about to unfold. It serves as a rigorous new test for the latest achievements in humanoid robot development.

The opening ceremony's overall flow was not complex, primarily highlighting the starring role of humanoid robots. The performance began with the song and dance piece "Welcome to the World of Carbon-Based Life." Humanoid robots danced alongside singer Liu Yuxin and a dance troupe, engaging in a live "battle" of dance skills. From the on-site performance, the robots' dancing was comparable to that of professional dancers, showing potential strong enough for a debut. After the main performance, Liu Yuxin joined hands with Qianzheng and Accelerated Evolution Robots to present an impromptu dance.

The subsequent performance, "Rhythm of Intelligence," featured the most extensive use of humanoid robots on site. Panshi Robot Band and Lingxin Qiaojing Robots played traditional Chinese melodies, UBTECH's panda robots and Leju Robots performed Tai Chi, and AIKUN Digital Art Troupe presented a classic aria featuring a Mu Guiying-costumed opera robot. Throughout the program, humanoid robots integrated with traditional culture such as opera and martial arts. The performance lacked any sense of incongruity; instead, it showcased the aesthetic fusion between traditional culture and advanced manufacturing.

Next came the fashion show "Tiangong Neon Attire," where humanoid robots walked the runway alongside international supermodel Hu Bing. Tiangong Robots wore floral outfits inspired by China's national flower, the peony, and the herbaceous peony. The four Little Giant Robots sported styles themed around space, young scholar attendants, Nezha, and Wukong. Songyan Dynamics Robots wore attire inspired by traditional Chinese culture and ancient armor, while Banxing Robots also adopted a distinctive armor-inspired look.

Zhuoyide Robot drew inspiration from the National Speed Skating Oval, known as 'Ice Ribbon,' blending architectural aesthetics with competitive spirit. Youyizhihe's robot costumes referenced traditional Chinese string figure games (Hua Fan), while Leju's robots featured historical imprints of Silk Road cultural fusion.

During the performance, humanoid robots paraded in non-heritage, national trend, and futuristic fashion styles. It is undeniable that robots can be this handsome and beautiful.

After three performance segments, the processional entrance officially began. The top three finishers from the previous humanoid robot half-marathon—Tiangong Ultra, Songyan Dynamics N2, and Zhuoyide Xingzhe No. 2—took on the flag-guarding duties.

The robot phalanx marched forward with cybernetic strides. Various groups entered sequentially, including the Accelerated Evolution T1 phalanx, Unitree G1 phalanx, wheeled robot phalanx, international robot phalanx, a student phalanx composed of 24 different robot teams, and a phalanx of six robot teams that participated in the外围赛 (outer-round competition).

After entering the venue, the robots freely demonstrated their capabilities in a "show of strength" segment. This included 5v5 robot football, track and field races, a combat showcase featuring Unitree's G1 model, and operational demonstrations of robots in hotel and pharmaceutical scenarios.

Upon assembly, representatives of the referees and robot athletes delivered pre-competition oaths. The TianGong 2.0 Pro served as the representative for the robot athletes, stating: "In the name of all robot athletes, I solemnly swear to respect opponents, referees, and rules; to harness human intelligence, demonstrate technological power, sail with innovation, and build dreams of symbiosis; competing intelligently towards the future."

Following the oath, accompanied by the magnificent musical theme of the Games' anthem, "Competing Intelligently Towards the Future," the launch ceremony was completed, and the opening ceremony concluded.

Starting tomorrow, the competitive events between humanoid robots will officially begin. The official competition is scheduled to last three days, concluding on August 17. Each day's events are divided into morning and afternoon sessions, with two to three award ceremonies held per session. The overall program covers five categories of competitions: athletic events, exhibition matches, scenario-based challenges, peripheral games, and sports presentations.

The athletic events include common human sporting disciplines such as track and field, 3v3 football, and 5v5 football.

In the exhibition matches, humanoid robots will present performances including dance, combat, gymnastics, and a human-vs-robot football match.

In the scenario competition, humanoid robots will be deployed in real-world applications across industries such as manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, hospitality, and warehousing. They will compete in tasks including material handling, pill sorting and packaging, greeting services, and mixed-material sorting.

In the peripheral matches, we will witness direct head-to-head confrontations between humanoid robots, featuring events like free-style boxing ('punching iron'), basketball, and table tennis, which showcase athletic skills.

Additionally, the humanoid robots will present opening shows, outstanding program performances, and other sports exhibitions.

Of the 280 participating teams in this World Humanoid Robot Games, the majority are from universities. There are 192 university teams and 88 corporate teams. University teams include those from Tsinghua University, Peking University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, and others. Corporate teams feature companies such as Tiangong, Unitree Robotics, Accelerate Evolution, Songyan Dynamics, Fourier Intelligence, and Xinghai Tu. They will provide another grand display of advancements in Embodied AI.

If previous WAIC and WRC events were concentrated reviews of humanoid robots, this World Humanoid Robot Games marks a 'real combat' start. We will soon find out how effective humanoid robots actually perform in motion and to what extent they have been applied in real scenarios.

From August 15 to 17, over 500 humanoid robots will take the stage in Beijing for three consecutive days, from morning till evening. Events include track and field, scenario competitions, exhibition matches, sports displays, and peripheral games. They will sprint on the tracks, solve problems in scenarios, dance and walk the runway on stage, engage in martial arts demonstrations, and even compete alongside human celebrities.

As the lights dim and applause fades, this 'Olympics' of the future has only just begun. After all, when 500 dancing, runway-walking, speed-competing humanoid robots gather together, who dares to say the upcoming competitions won't be even more spectacular?

The schedule is attached below: