A humanoid robot takes part in a wushu contest during the second World Humanoid Robot Games at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Aug. 26. BEIJING - At the World Humanoid Robot Games in China last month, robots jumped, boxed and danced. Some fleet-footed bots ran faster than Usain Bolt over 100 meters. Spectators cheered the machines' improving capabilities and their meme-worthy stumbles. Two days after the Games ended, the People's Liberation Army's official newspaper drew its own conclusions from the show.

An empty lot is stacked with aluminum brackets, steel rods and wooden planks in Ulanqab, China. Set in rolling grassland, Ulanqab is an unlikely technological hub. Yet this modest city of less than 2 million people in Inner Mongolia has found itself on the front line of China's efforts to relocate computing power away from its crowded eastern megacities and out to its western regions, where both space and inexpensive green energy are abundant. At one cluttered intersection on the eastern edge of the city on a Friday at lunchtime, workers streamed out of a cluster of data-center construction sites -- a reminder of the scale of the endeavor here, some 350 kilometers northwest of Beijing. Still wearing hard hats and high-visibility vests, their pants and boots caked in dust, they congregated at a cluster of trucks selling cheap meals, beer and cigarettes.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent speaks during a news conference, as finance ministers and central bank governors from Group of 20 countries meet in Asheville, North Carolina, on Tuesday. Beijing - The U.S. and China are gearing up to discuss AI safety risks during a dialogue planned for mid-September, two sources briefed on the discussions said, as rapidly advancing frontier AI capabilities reach a global tipping point. The talks, the first official bilateral discussions devoted exclusively to AI between the U.S. and China since U.S. President Donald Trump took office for a second time, will be led by U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent on the U.S. side, the sources, who were briefed on the planning, said on condition of anonymity. A White House official said "there is currently no planned AI-related meeting in mid-September." Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping are due to meet on Sept. 24 during a summit in Washington.

China is racing to build data centers and energy infrastructure to close the AI gap with the US. Donald Trump warns that data center protests could benefit Beijing.

A demonstrator operates a humanoid robot during the launch of Galbot's unmanned robot convenience store in Hong Kong on Aug. 31. BEIJING - Humanoid robots working on factory floors, artificial intelligence models challenging global rivals and electric-vehicle plants churning out cars at breathtaking scale are drawing a new wave of foreign visitors to China. Investors and entrepreneurs are paying thousands of dollars for rare access to Chinese factories, seeking a front-row seat to what many believe could be the next technological revolution. The influx reflects mounting fears of a "China shock 2.0," with Western boardrooms and capitals confronting the possibility that Chinese companies are seizing the lead in advanced manufacturing and cutting-edge technologies. In a time of both misinformation and too much information, quality journalism is more crucial than ever. By subscribing, you can help us get the story right.

Look Up Mashable's Best: E-readers, robovacs, laptops, earbuds, smart home and more Say More Switch Off Creator Playbook Mashable Voices Trending Now Mashable Selects Safety Net Versus Gift Ideas For Everyone On Your List In My Bag All Series See the biggest moments from the latest competition putting humanoid robots to the test. Meet the new humanoid with'smart skin' (I touched it) 4:23 How well does the Beatbot Sora 70 robot clean your pool? Google DeepMind tests Gemini Robotics 2 doing chores around the house, and the future looks bright! The second World Humanoid Robot Games brought more than 2,000 humanoid robots to Beijing for a series of Olympic-style competitions. Check out some of the biggest highlights from this year's event.

China sees opportunity in America's recent AI security scares Software made by OpenAI broke free and hacked into another company's computer systems in July. SEOUL - In the United States, recent episodes of powerful artificial intelligence software breaking free and hacking into other computer systems prompted a wave of anxiety and intense debate about how to guard against the risks of AI. But in China, these incidents and the growing capabilities of AI have not caused the same level of alarm. The government already controls many kinds of technology, including AI. The prevailing attitude in the industry has been that the benefits of AI far outweigh the risks. That was exemplified Friday when Z.ai, a Beijing-based AI startup, made public the details of its latest model.

The five-day robot Olympics staked out China's claim as the undisputed leader in humanoid robotics. The five-day robot Olympics staked out China's claim as the undisputed leader in humanoid robotics. Faster, higher, funnier: what we learned from China's robot games With exploding pelvises, enough comic pratfalls for a Buster Keaton show reel and the odd moment of ruthless violence, the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing gripped the world this week with an unsettling mixture of hilarity, trepidation and relief. The five-day showcase staked out China's claim to undisputed leadership in humanoid robotics as android martial artists landed knockout roundhouse kicks and robot teams marched into the arena heralded by flag-waving captains astride giant robotic dogs. The games' blue-riband event, the 100m, did not disappoint when the robot-sprinters ran quicker than Usain Bolt before slamming mindlessly into a padded wall in a blaze of sparks, flames and flying mechanical limbs.

This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. Market data provided by Factset . Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions . Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by LSEG . Chinese humanoid robot breaks Usain Bolt's 100m dash record at 9.39 seconds World's first solar-powered ambulance brings healthcare off-grid The scammer at your doctor's office may already know who you are'CHUMP CHANGE': How a $17B settlement is a landmark for social, still good for Meta Kurt'CyberGuy' Knutsson recalls being stuck in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina Cybercrime a global problem, thieves go for'targets of opportunity,' expert says Steve Doocy explores the US Air Force Academy's elite military training Supporting data centers is'perilous' politically: Brian Kilmeade China's humanoid robots are getting dramatically faster as one developer predicts robot soldiers could be 5 to 10 years away Kurt Knutsson, 'The CyberGuy', joins'Fox & Friends' to showcase the World Humanoid Games in Beijing, China. Over 2,000 robots and 600 teams from 16 countries compete in athletic competitions including sprinting, boxing, and soccer. Knutsson discusses how the U.S.-China tech race is expanding into humanoid robotics as developers push the boundaries of artificial intelligence.

China's humanoid robots aren't smart enough to take your job -- yet A human trainer teaches a robot how to package noodles while holding a controller and wearing a headset fitted with motion sensors at a robot data training center in Liuzhou, Guangxi, China. LIUZHOU/BEIJING - Inside a training center in southern China, more than 100 humanoid robots stand in neat rows. The humanoids are slow and awkward. A novice trainer might get them to produce one usable movement in 300 attempts; an experienced trainer, one in 50. Robot maker UBTech won an $18 million tender from the Guangxi regional government last October to supply the training facility with humanoids and related hardware. The mission: to produce training data for so-called embodied AI -- robots able to perceive, decide and act in the physical world.