BEIJING — The robots that spent August sprinting, dancing, boxing and performing martial arts before cheering crowds in Beijing may have been entertaining spectators. China’s military was watching something else: potential future soldiers.
Just two days after the World Humanoid Robot Games ended, the People’s Liberation Army’s official newspaper urged researchers to move advanced robotics technology from laboratories and exhibitions into military training, describing a future role for robotic “combatants.”
That was not simply futuristic commentary.
A Reuters examination of more than 100 Chinese military procurement notices, patents, academic papers, government documents, official publications and defense-industry material found that China’s defense establishment is increasingly researching how humanoid robots could operate alongside troops in future wars.
The work includes experiments involving reconnaissance, urban operations, military-base security, hazardous missions, battlefield perception and even scenarios in which robots could accompany troops into enemy-held buildings.
But there is an important distinction between what China is planning and what it can actually deploy today.
Reuters found no evidence that an armed humanoid robot has been fielded by an operational PLA unit. Current machines remain power-hungry, mechanically fragile and far less reliable in chaotic real-world environments than their carefully choreographed demonstrations suggest.
From robot Olympics to military training grounds
The transformation in perception happened remarkably quickly.
More than 2,000 humanoid robots took part in Beijing’s World Humanoid Robot Games in August, competing in events ranging from sprinting and soccer to martial arts and practical workplace tasks. The event was designed not only as entertainment but also as a test of mobility, autonomy and real-world usefulness.
One of the most attention-grabbing machines, TianGong Ultra, completed the 100-meter sprint in 8.64 seconds, faster than Usain Bolt’s 9.58-second human world record.
Reuters later reported that the robot was running using trained motion-control systems that continuously adjusted balance and joint movement without an operator directing every individual step. Engineers nevertheless acknowledged that reliability remains a far harder challenge than raw speed.
That gap — between spectacular athletic performance and dependable real-world operation — could determine how quickly humanoids move from exhibitions to military service.
China has already studied robots clearing buildings with soldiers
Among the strongest indications of China’s ambitions is an August 2025 study from researchers at the National University of Defense Technology, the PLA’s leading military research university.
The researchers modeled an urban assault force containing six “combat robots,” potentially including humanoids, quadruped robot dogs and unmanned vehicles.
The machines would be divided between two assault teams and operate with human troops while clearing an enemy-controlled building room by room and floor by floor.
The researchers projected that equipment needed for such operations could become available within five to 10 years.
The study did not spell out what weapons the machines might carry, how they would distinguish civilians from fighters or what rules would govern their use of force.
That omission points directly to one of the most difficult questions surrounding military robotics: who ultimately decides when a machine can kill?
PLA research is moving beyond theory
Other documents reviewed by Reuters suggest China has already begun assembling the technology and data needed for more advanced military humanoids.
In June 2025, an NUDT competition included a scenario described as “infiltration behind enemy lines.” Robots were required to enter an area, build a map and locate targets. Other exercises envisioned machines performing identity checks, security patrols and inspections at military facilities.
A PLA tender issued in May 2025 sought a humanoid robot together with installation and technical training.
Several months later, another procurement notice connected to NUDT sought technology for humanoid perception and dexterous manipulation.
And in June 2026, the PLA budgeted roughly US$300,000 for a system capable of collecting and labeling camera, radar and motion data, including information about terrain humanoid robots could navigate.
These projects suggest the military challenge is no longer simply building a robot body.
The harder problem is teaching it to understand terrain, perceive threats, manipulate objects and react safely when reality does not match its training.
China’s huge commercial robot industry gives the PLA an advantage
China enters that race with a major industrial asset.
Chinese manufacturers accounted for roughly 95% of global humanoid shipments in 2025, according to BofA Global Research figures cited by Reuters. That gives Chinese military researchers access to a fast-growing domestic ecosystem of robot manufacturers, component suppliers, AI developers and engineering talent.
China’s broader robotics industry is already experimenting with humanoids in factories, warehouses, public services and emergency-response scenarios.
And military applications are spreading beyond universities.
Chinese state-owned defense giant Norinco, for example, has developed a full-sized humanoid named Fuxi. Company material described possible applications including sentry duties, patrols, reconnaissance and dangerous missions.
Fuxi can also be remotely controlled through a teleoperation system, allowing a human operator to remain involved rather than leaving every decision to the robot.
That may prove especially important in warfare.
China is not alone — the US Army wants militarized humanoids too
The race is not exclusively Chinese.
The U.S. Army has launched its own xTechHumanoid competition, explicitly seeking prototype “militarized humanoid capabilities” capable of working alongside soldiers.
Official Army documents list potential missions including reconnaissance, checkpoint security, obstacle clearing, firefighting, hazardous-material operations and both offensive and defensive operations in urban terrain.
Up to 10 finalists were scheduled to demonstrate their technologies to Army and Defense Department specialists, while the U.S. government made as much as $1.25 million in potential follow-on contract funding available.
The significance is clear: humanoid warfare is not merely a Chinese concept.
Major militaries are increasingly exploring whether machines shaped like humans could operate effectively in environments designed for humans — stairways, doors, buildings, tunnels, vehicles and industrial facilities.
Robot dogs may reach combat sooner
Humanoid machines, however, may not always be the most practical choice.
Researchers told Reuters that wheeled vehicles, tracked robots and four-legged machines are generally simpler and cheaper for many reconnaissance and logistics missions.
China is already much further along with quadruped military robots.
China’s Defense Ministry has publicly showcased new “robot wolves” capable of carrying equipment including grenade launchers and micro-missile systems. The ministry says different versions can perform reconnaissance, attack and support functions, with target identification and aiming performed by the machines while a human confirms an attack.
That provides a useful reality check.
The future battlefield may not initially resemble science-fiction armies of walking androids. More specialized unmanned systems could arrive first.
The biggest battlefield problem may not be hardware
China has publicly said that humans should retain ultimate authority over AI-enabled weapons.
In March, a Defense Ministry spokesperson said military applications of artificial intelligence should maintain human primacy and that relevant weapon systems must remain under human control.
Yet advances in autonomous weapons are intensifying international concern.
In August, the United Nations secretary-general and the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross renewed calls for countries to establish binding international rules governing autonomous weapons, warning that the world was moving dangerously close to machines autonomously targeting human beings.
The ICRC argues that systems able to select and engage targets after activation raise serious questions under international humanitarian law, particularly when humans cannot reliably predict exactly whom a weapon will strike.
Those issues become even more complicated in urban warfare, where civilians, wounded fighters and surrendering soldiers may occupy the same environment.
So are China’s “robot soldiers” ready for war?
No — not yet.
That is the most important fact behind the dramatic imagery.
China clearly has a serious military research program exploring humanoid robotics. Procurement records, military studies, competitions and defense-company projects show that the PLA is thinking about robots as future battlefield systems rather than mere technology demonstrations.
But today’s humanoids still struggle with battery life, reliability, perception, decision-making and unpredictable terrain. Even machines capable of astonishing athletic feats can fall, break or fail when conditions change.
What has changed is the timeline.
Five years ago, humanoid soldiers belonged mostly to science fiction.
China’s military researchers are now publishing scenarios about how they might fight alongside troops within the next decade.
And after watching robots sprint, box and dance their way across Beijing, the PLA appears increasingly interested in finding out what happens when the arena is no longer a stadium — but a battlefield.
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