Chinese robot beats Usain Bolt's 100m world record in test run

Lightning humanoid robot hit a peak speed of 14.5 m/s at a test event for Beijing's World Robot Games

A humanoid robot developed by Chinese smartphone maker Honor ​ran 100 meters in 9.32 seconds, China's ‌state broadcaster reported on Saturday, beating the human world record held by Jamaican sprinting great Usain Bolt.

The robot, ​dubbed Lightning, reached a peak speed of ​14.5 meters per second during a preparatory ⁠test event for the second World Humanoid ​Robot Games, which opened in Beijing on Saturday.

The ​performance surpassed the 9.58-second men's 100-metre world record set by Bolt at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin in ​2009.

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China has been promoting humanoid robots as ​a strategic emerging industry, with policymakers and companies betting that ‌advances ⁠in AI and hardware will accelerate their deployment in manufacturing, logistics and consumer applications.

Lightning also won the 21-km Beijing half marathon in April in ​50 minutes ​and 26 ⁠seconds, faster than the elite men's human world-record pace.

The robot stood ​169 cm tall and had 95-cm ​legs ⁠at the half marathon. Researchers have since lengthened its legs by 10 cm to 1.05 metres ⁠ahead ​of the World Humanoid Robot ​Games, China Central Television reported.