On August 26, 2026, the humanoid robot Tiangong Ultra won the 100-metre final at the second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing in 8.64 seconds — faster on the clock than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second human world record (timing methods and conditions differ from human athletics). A day earlier, in its 8.86-second semi-final, the same machine could not stop, crashed into the padding and threw sparks. This video uses that contrast to ask the question global capital is now pricing: not when robots will move like humans, but when a somewhat clumsy robot will work cheaper than hiring one. We cover China’s convergence of smartphone, drone and EV supply chains into humanoids, the Unitree listing that surged 460 percent and then slid, who is actually buying (largely the state and research bodies), the JPMorgan cost estimate of under 10 dollars an hour against roughly 30 for a US warehouse worker, Japanese reactions on X — including Japan’s own entrant posting its 24.3-second heat without excuses — and the precision reduction gears from Nabtesco and Harmonic Drive that still turn inside China’s robot joints.
Full article: https://sekahan0623.com/en/global-reactions-en/when-will-chinese-humanoid-robots-work-cheaper-than-humans/
X (Twitter): https://x.com/sekahan_0623
This program is produced with synthesized narration (Voice: Google Cloud Text-to-Speech (Chirp 3: HD)).
