China Hosts First-Ever Humanoid Robot Football Match

China marked a new milestone in robotics and artificial intelligence by hosting the world's first fully autonomous humanoid robot football match on Saturday in Beijing. Organised as a part of the country's growing focus on AI innovation, the match saw multiple humanoid teams, including those from Tsinghua University and Beijing Information Science and Technology University, compete for the championship title. Team Vulcan emerged as the winner with a final score of 5-3.

Despite occasional malfunctions – robots stumbling over one another, fist pumping in the air after each goal and poor goalkeeping – the event captivated spectators and marked a significant step in AI-integrated humanoid sports. Equipped with high-precision cameras and sensors, the robots demonstrated the ability to recognise field boundaries, teammates, opponents, and ball trajectories with up to 90% accuracy. They operated using deep reinforcement learning, an AI technique that enables decision-making through trial and error in simulated environments, allowing them to perform actions such as dribbling, passing and shooting in real time.

The event accelerates China's investment in robotics, with the domestic market valued at $47 billion, roughly 40% of the global share, and aimed to grow at an annual rate of 23% to reach $108 billion by 2028, according to Morgan Stanley. This football match follows other high-profile humanoid events in China this year, including a half-marathon in April and a kickboxing competition in May. Although many robots struggled to finish or remain upright, these exhibitions are seen as cultural and technological showcases leading up to the beginning of the World Humanoid Robot Games, set to take place in Beijing from August 15 to 17. The event will feature 11 sports, including soccer, gymnastics and athletics.