China's reality TV programming is being taken over by robots and AI

Almost two decades ago, Wang Xi, then a teenager living near the Chinese capital of Beijing, fell in love with an American robot combat TV show called BattleBots. One of the most-watched TV shows ever in the US, it got 1.5 million viewers per episode at its peak, and was syndicated around the world, including China. Wang knew then that he wanted to one day make his own robot, and having it battle on TV in China. This year, Wang saw his dream realized on China's first robot combat show, King of Bots (铁甲雄心), which debuted in January. It's one of a series of robot combat shows that will air in the country this year, after China saw its first offline robot battle tournaments in recent years.