Beijing's Second World Humanoid Robot Games Opens Saturday With 2,056 Robots From 666 Teams — Team Count Up 138% in a Year

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The games run August 22–26 at Beijing's National Speed Skating Oval, with 666 teams from 16 countries across six continents and 2,056 robots, roughly double last year's robot count and a 138% increase in teams. Thirty-two events split into competitive categories (track and field, soccer, street dance) and scenario-based ones (housekeeping, firefighting, retail assistance). The rule change that matters technically: the 100-meter race is now fully autonomous, and scenario events push teams toward autonomous positioning, recognition and manipulation rather than teleoperation — which makes this year's results a far better read on real embodied autonomy than last year's.