Robot Runs 100m in 8.64 Seconds; Usain Bolt Responds with a Laugh

Tiangong Ultra covered 100 meters in 8.64 seconds at the second World Humanoid Robot Games, nearly a full second faster than Usain Bolt's 2009 world record of 9.58 seconds. The comparison is imperfect — machine and human marks are not the same category — but the run still drew wide attention as a marker of how quickly legged locomotion is progressing. Bolt was asked about it by reporters in Budapest. He laughed, then offered a brief remark about where technology is heading, without disputing the number.