Over Memorial Day weekend, when Americans were filling their bellies with barbecue, China hosted the world's first humanoid robot fighting competition. Humanoid 'bot manufacturer Unitree sponsored the World Robot Competition Mecha Fighting Series in Hangzhou, where four of their machines battled it out. The four entrants were all 4' 4" and weighed 77 pounds, presumably for the referee's safety.

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Some good news, I suppose, at least for now: In the following video, you can see that the 'bots are clearly being remote-controlled.

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That lowers the stakes a bit for humanity. However, our reprieve won't last long. EngineAI, another Chinese robot manufacturer, has announced they're hosting a large-scale robot combat tournament this December. The Engine AI event will feature full-sized 'bots—fighting autonomously, in order to showcase advances in AI. Does anyone who doesn't stand to profit from this think this is a good idea?

At any rate, here's EngineAI's (CGI) trailer for the event:

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Incredible that it's in 480p. Are we going forward or backward here?