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The Best Robot Fails From the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games

That one would hurt. (If they felt pain).
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The 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games has been taking place this week in Beijing, China, with more than 2,000 humanoid robots competing in sports like kickboxing, sprinting, and gymnastics. At this point you’ve probably heard about the three robots that beat Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second world record in the 100-meter dash. But have you seen the robots that have been glitching out? They’re less impressive, but they’re so damn funny.

There were the cheerleader robots who couldn’t stop shaking.

There were the robots that didn’t just smash into a foam wall, but sparked and burst into flames in the process.

There was the robot that attempted a front-flip off a box only to face-plant. Or “face” plant, as it were, given the robot’s lack of a face.

There was the robot that flipped out trying to lift a relatively small amount of weight and wound up crashing into a table.

There was the robot on the obstacle course that was in absolute chaos mode.

There was the high jumping robot that proceeded to have its head pop off.

There was the soccer robot that fell flat on its face.

There was the robot that startled one of the officials on the sidelines because it wouldn’t stop.

There was the robot that smashed into a TV set.

There was the dancing robot that looked like it had a bit too much to drink.

Last but not least, there was the robot that smashed into a wall during training.

The robots in this competition have accomplished some genuinely impressive feats. And it’s incredible to see how far humanoid robotics has come in the decade since the DARPA Robotics Challenge in California in 2015. Every robot in that competition was remote operated and moved painfully slow compared to the robots of the 2020s. There were plenty of humorous failures in 2015, but they moved much, much slower.

The future looks bright for humanoid robots in 2026. But it remains to be seen how companies will try to monetize these bots and which use cases make the most sense for everyday consumers.

Will it become common for humanoid robots to work as servants in U.S. homes, folding clothes and loading the dishwasher, generally fulfilling the dream of Rosey the Robot from “The Jetsons”? Billionaire Elon Musk thinks so. But his timeline has been way too ambitious and his Optimus robot has been largely used as a way to generate hype rather than achieve tangibly impressive feats.

Maintenance team members use a stretcher to move a humanoid robot after it fell in a 100 meter race during the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games at National Speed Skating Oval on August 25, 2026 in Beijing, China.
Maintenance team members use a stretcher to move a humanoid robot after it fell in a 100 meter race during the 2nd World Humanoid Robot Games at National Speed Skating Oval on August 25, 2026 in Beijing, China. © Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

There’s also the question of how much robots may transform society in the near future. On one side you’ve got guys like Musk who believe robots will deliver a world of abundance. So much abundance, in fact, that money won’t matter by 2030. On the other side, you’ve got the robot skeptics who believe that humanoid robots won’t be inside most American homes anytime this decade.

Musk’s prediction is absurd, of course, as we explained yesterday. But there is the possibility of something in the middle. Humanoid robots are advancing in a way that’s genuinely impressive and there’s a real possibility that we could see them performing jobs more frequently in the years ahead. Will this lead to a post-scarcity society, as the world’s wealthiest man has promised? No. That only happens through political action.

But will this mean that some jobs will be performed by robots, especially if they’re more dangerous—think surveying Chernobyl or rescuing someone’s pet hamster from a burning building? That’s entirely possible.

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