Beijing’s Robot Olympics

The Beijing Humanoid Robot Games have given us a glimpse of the future.

More than 2,000 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries competed in 51 events at Beijing’s National Speed Skating Oval. The programme went well beyond running: robots took part in football, gymnastics, martial arts, weightlifting, dancing, factory tasks, home services, and emergency-response scenarios.

The headline-grabber was Tiangong Ultra. The Chinese humanoid robot won the 100-metre final in 8.64 seconds—almost a full second faster than Usain Bolt’s human world record of 9.58 seconds.

Before we panic-sell our running shoes: this is not a robot joining the Olympics tomorrow. These events measure specialised machines operating in controlled settings, often with major engineering support close by. At one point, a robot even caught fire after a qualifying race—an extremely clear sign that the “self-driving athlete” still needs supervision.

Still, the business message is real. Humanoid robots are moving from flashy demos toward practical tests in factories, warehouses, retail, hospitality, and emergency response. Speed is fun; reliability, safety, and cost will determine whether they become colleagues.

AI Startups to Watch

🇮🇳 Runable — AI growth agents for small businesses
Runable is creating AI agents for entrepreneurs and smaller companies. Its pitch is not just “build a website with AI,” but use agents to help launch, market, and grow a business—potentially handling tasks such as customer acquisition and outreach. The company recently raised a $21 million Series A at a $65 million post-money valuation.

🇺🇸 Generalist — AI brains for physical robots
Generalist is developing software that helps robots interpret the physical world and carry out a broader set of tasks. Instead of programming a robot only to repeat one action, the ambition is to give it the flexibility to adapt to new environments and instructions. It reportedly raised almost $200 million in new financing, bringing its Series B total to $600 million and its valuation to $3 billion.

🌍🛰️ Starcloud — data centres in space
Starcloud plans to operate satellites that run AI inference: the work of applying a trained AI model to generate answers, predictions, or decisions. Its argument is that demand for power-hungry AI computing may eventually exceed practical limits on Earth, including available electricity, cooling, and data-centre capacity. The company raised a $250 million extension, valuing it at $2.3 billion.

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Until next time!

Amplify Team ❤️

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