Is it faster than a speeding Bolt?
After taking over the job market, robots may soon render our top athletes obsolete. Chinese robot firm Unitree has unveiled a super-humanoid that they claim could dust Usain Bolt, the world’s fastest sprinter ever, in a foot race, among other incredible feats of athleticism.
They unveiled the abilities of the cybernetic specimen, dubbed “Superman,” in an X video with nearly 950,000 views.
According to Unitree, the robot was developed in just three months but can already high jump 2 meters (6.56 feet) and achieve a top speed of 12.66 m/s (28.3 mph), allegedly eclipsing “the records of all humans around the world.”
This would indeed put “Superman” ahead of Bolt’s top speed of 12.2 meters per second (just over 27 mph) set during his record-shattering 100-meter sprint in 2009.
Meanwhile, the bot’s alleged standing vertical places it well above the record of 5ft7 inches achieved by Christopher Spell in Shrub Oak, New York in 2021.
With this incredible demo, “Superman” proves that it can break “the limits of humanity,” per the post.
While these records have yet to be verified, Unitree claimed that there is “significant room for further improvement in the coming months.
Either way, the stunts thrust the form into the spotlight ahead of its debut on Shanghai’s STAR Market Wednesday, when it will become mainland China’s first publicly-traded general-purpose robotics company after raising over $904 million in an initial public offering, Gizmodo reported.
This also coincides with the 2026 World Robot Conference from August 19 through August 23, where techsperts from around the world convene to together to discuss advancements in the field.
Just days later, the second World Humanoid Robot Games will kick off on August 22.
Unitree swept last year’s inaugural competition, garnering four gold medals in the 400-meter dash, 1,500-meter race, 100-meter hurdles and 4×100-meter relay.
Could “Superman” turn in a Usain Bolt-esque performance if it debuts at this year’s contest?
Unfortunately, Unitree’s creations have also been the subject of controversy, with many experts worrying that their physical capabilities might outpace their safeguards.
Earlier this year, a handler was kicked in the groin by an advanced Unitree robot he was controlling, and a droid shockingly slapped a child during a dance demo gone awry.
This had robotics experts worrying about what would happen if they malfunctioned during a higher-consequence task, such as babysitting or treating an elderly hospital patient.
“The event would be viewed not as comic relief but as a dangerous systems failure,” Dr. Roman Yampolskiy, a tenured associate professor and computer scientist at the University of Louisville, previously told The Post. “A glitch in a dancing robot is mostly embarrassing. A glitch in a security robot, delivery system, self-driving platform, medical assistant or industrial machine can injure people, damage property or trigger cascading failures.”
