The first ever full-size humanoid robot fighting tournament will be held in Shenzhen, China, located in the southeastern province of Guangdong. The EngineAI Robot Free Combat Tournament: “Mecha King” marks a milestone in the robotics industry and aims to push the boundaries of artificial intelligence, spurring industrial modernization and the widespread use of robots.
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According to the organizers, the event is designed to test the physical capabilities and intelligence of robots in exciting combat scenarios. The tournament will also introduce new rules for humanoid robot combat, which will require simulating natural human movements and making thoughtful decisions in difficult conditions online.
Shenzhen-based robotics company EngineAI will provide several models of humanoid robots for the tournament. The company plans to open-source the robots’ software, allowing teams to fine-tune and even further train their fighters.
EngineAI co-founder Yao Aiwen told reporters that one of the goals of the tournament is to create stronger, more agile, and smarter robots. The company aims to leverage the mature robotics ecosystem in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and integrate sports with AI technology to achieve breakthroughs in key areas such as robot perception, decision-making, and command execution. He also said that the fighting tournament will help test robots’ learning ability. When robots can dance, play sports, and perform other actions, they will be easier to use in daily life and production. This will accelerate the large-scale adoption of humanoid robots in manufacturing, services, medicine, and other fields, and pave the way for the development of an intelligent economy.
In addition to the Shenzhen event, humanoid robots are preparing for the world’s first martial arts competition, which will be held on May 25 in Hangzhou, located in Zhejiang Province. The event includes a demonstration and competition part, during which humanoid robots will demonstrate combat techniques, and human-controlled robots will conduct several sparring matches. The main partner of the competition was the Hangzhou-based robotics company Unitree Robotics, whose engineers carried out extensive training of the robots, paying special attention to their ability to balance and maintain equilibrium. The robots underwent a series of stress tests, proving their readiness for the upcoming event.
Both competitions reflect the widespread development of robotics in China. According to the Zhejiang government, Hangzhou is home to more than 200 robotics-related companies, with a robot output value of 15 billion yuan in 2024. Guangdong’s industrial robot output in 2024 exceeded 240,000 units or sets, up 31.2 percent year-on-year. According to Xinhua News Agency, one in three industrial robots in China is now made in Guangdong.