Usain Bolt's 2009 world record for the 100-meter dash still remains unbroken at 9.58 seconds, but only if we're talking about humans. During the second annual World Humanoid Robot Games that kicked off in Beijing on Saturday, the Tiangong Ultra humanoid robot completed the 100-meter dash in 9.39 seconds during a preliminary heat. Developed by Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center, the record-holding robot overtook Honor's Lightning robot, which completed the sprint in 9.47 seconds. Despite the impressive finish times, don't expect these humanoid robots to be used for any commercial purposes yet. After their sprints, they slammed directly into pads and some even required human assistance to be stretchered off the course.

Robots can outrun humans, but can they plug in a cable? Booster Robotics humanoid robots walk in formation during the opening ceremony for the second World Humanoid Robot Games at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing on Saturday. Beijing - China's humanoid robots have shown they can run quicker than the fastest humans. Now comes the real test: can they also handle packaging and warehouse operations while reliably performing precision tasks like connecting cables designed to evaluate their ability to work like humans in less flashy jobs? The five-day World Humanoid Robot Games, which began Saturday in Beijing, combine events modeled on human sports with those designed to test the robots in simulated factories, restaurants, offices and in emergency situations.

Cheap energy, abundant land, and proximity to Beijing have turned a city in Inner Mongolia into a crucial hub for data centers. Travel just two hours west of Beijing by train, and you'll find yourself surrounded by the rolling grasslands and ancient cinder cones of Inner Mongolia. This vast, arid land has long been China's capital of sheep farming and coal mining, but over the last few years, it has become the hottest place in the country to build an AI data center. In Ulanqab, a city in Inner Mongolia home to about 1.5 million people, nearly 100 data centers have been opened or begun construction since 2016. Chinese companies have pledged to build projects with a combined estimated capacity of 12.5 gigawatts in the city, and over 70 percent of the total commitments have been announced in just the last year, making it one of the fastest growing compute clusters in Asia, according to a research note published by Goldman Sachs last week.

Beijing is competing with the U.S. for tech supremacy. Who wins will have huge political implications. As Donald Trump has cut research funds, China has pursued what one investor calls an "all-hands-on-deck approach to national innovation." Kai-Fu Lee, the C.E.O. of the artificial-intelligence company 01.AI, lives in a mirrored high-rise in Beijing, near a procession of landmarks that emperors considered the center of the cosmos. Lee takes early meetings at a nearby hotel that could be in any country, except that the room service is delivered by robots painted in the livery of butlers and maids. State propaganda hails these robots as emblems of China's ascent; in the hallway, most people sidestep them with the kind of indifference usually reserved for a Roomba. Over breakfast one recent morning, Lee, wearing a white polo shirt and rimless glasses, spoke about the future with an air of sanguine curiosity. He was born in Taiwan in 1961 and built his career by following the moving ...

China is building the world's largest naval replenishment ship near Guangzhou as part of a broader strategy spanning shipbuilding, semiconductors, rare earth minerals and space.

The Philippines has condemned the dehumanising and racist portrayal of the country as a timid monkey strong-armed by the US and Japan to take Beijing on over the South China Sea . Last week, China Daily posted an AI-generated video featuring a monkey in a Filipino shirt. It screams as arms bearing the Japanese and US flags shove it onto a rickety karaoke stage set up in a boat. After it gets scolded for singing the wrong song, it pulls out a sheet reading South China Sea arbitration award. It is then flung into the sea and blasted by a water cannon.

Follow this section to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. Follow this tag to personalize your feed and get instant alerts. Follow Go to your personalized feed WHY FOLLOW? Smart Alerts: Get notified about major news as it happens. In early June, Tenzin Gyatso, the 14th Dalai Lama, was wheeled into an operating room at Apollo Hospital in New Delhi. Spiritually, His Holiness is an emanation, or of the bodhisattva Chenrezig, who renounced nirvana to help mankind.

Can China repeat its EV success with robotaxis? In Beijing's Yizhuang district, driverless vehicles have become a common sight. Robotaxis weave through traffic alongside ordinary cars, while autonomous delivery vans glide along the inside lane as they carry packages to collection points. The district has become one of China's testing grounds for autonomous driving, with companies including Baidu, WeRide and Pony.ai operating commercial robotaxi services within designated areas. Booking a ride requires little more than opening an app.

Missouri State University trained over 1,500 Chinese executives tied to China's military-industrial complex through an MBA program, a new watchdog report claims.

Samples of rare earth luminescent materials displayed at an exhibition on China's manufacturing achievements at the National Museum in Beijing in March | REUTERS China's tightening export controls on dual-use materials and strategically important rare earths are beginning to disrupt Japanese industry -- including the defense sector. Chinese customs data tell the sharpest part of the story. Exports of dysprosium oxide to Japan ceased after October 2025, and shipments of terbium oxide ended a month later. No shipments of either material have been recorded since. The halt matters because dysprosium and terbium -- both heavy rare earth elements -- are among the most critical inputs for high-performance permanent magnets used in advanced military systems, electric vehicle motors, aerospace applications and industrial robotics.