Humanoid Robot Boxing: Unitree G1 Battle Royale

The world's first kickboxing tournament exclusively featuring humanoid robots just took place in China

Here's everything we know about this first-of-its-kind robot rumble, and of course, all the best highlights

Six different robots slugged it out for the top spot, each with a team of human operators outside the ring

giving robots commands via remote control. The robots were armed with several different combat moves that Unitree says came from external experts

who provided reference data for training. These moves include straight punches, hooks, uppercuts, a roundhouse kick, front knee

and what looks to me like a front kick or push kick. Martial arts experts let us know down in the comments which one you think it is

The robots are also able to pivot and move around, as well as stand up from a fall

In the opening match it was blue vs purple, with the other robots standing in the corners

of the ring cheering on the robot on robot carnage. While it's humans calling the shots from the sidelines, the robots themselves must maintain their balance while taking punches and performing kicks and knees that sometimes force them onto one leg

Unitree says this was achieved by a combination of sensors in the robot which feed it information on its body position as well as AI reinforcement learning performed in simulation The robot in the blue took a spill while attempting to

knee the purple robot, but was able to recover. Shortly after that, the purple

robot seemed to lose its balance while throwing a combo, falling over the ropes

lining the ring. And this won't be the last time one of these robot fighters gets

tangled up in the rope. The next round saw the black clad robot named AI

strategist facing off against the robot in pink known as the Silk Artisan

While it took these robots a second to find each other on the battlefield

eventually they locked in, resulting in one of the most devastating clashes of

the entire event. AI strategist took the first fall when a kick threw it off

balance, but it was back on its feet and taunting its opponent in no time. In the

next round the Silk Artisan got its leg caught on the AI strategist causing it

to stumble, but it stayed on its feet. Both sides landed some good hits, trading blows

In the next round, Black delivered a devastating knee to Pink, but it wasn't enough to keep the Silk Artisan down

The face came to a brutal conclusion when Pink went for a right hook as Black went for the knee throwing the Silk Artisan off balance and sending its legs all over the place in a finisher that looks like it belongs in a Mortal Kombat video game

AI strategists celebrated the devastating blow by falling face first over the Silk Artisan and a nail-biting conclusion to a thrilling match

In the penultimate bout, Power Core Guardian in green went punch for punch with Armored Mulan in red

The fight began with a clash of kicks. Robots traded blows back and forth

Green took the first fall when a kick went wrong, but it was back on its feet in no time

The Green team was feeling confident, taunting Red repeatedly. At one point the robots got stuck together, needing to be pulled apart by the referee

The final round saw AI Strategist facing off against Power Core Guardian

Once again we saw the robots get stuck together and need to be separated

Green took the first fall while attempting to knee the robot in black, but came back strong, seeming totally unmoved by what appeared to be a powerful kick from AI Strategist

As the match heated up, the robots traded taunts and blows. A well-timed punch from the black team put the green robot on its back

Another well right hook put green down again It wasn looking good for the green team but Green had one more big push left in it A jab from Green caught AI Strategist in the middle of a kick

throwing the robot off balance and sending it stumbling into the ropes where it got tangled up

Green fought with a lot of whatever the robot equivalent of heart is, but it wasn't enough

AI Strategist took home the top prize at the China Media Group World Robot Tournament, Mecha Combat Arena

The G1 humanoid robot comes in several different models, and for this competition, Unitree was showcasing the top-of-the-line EDU model with added combat control

Unitree says the G1 humanoid robot can be controlled by remote control, voice command, or motion sensing control

Remote controls were used in this competition for ease of use and to minimize latency

However, Unitree has shown video of its robots throwing punches, kicks, and taunts with voice commands

What do you think about Unitree's robot combat? Real steel IRL or Terminators in the making

Let us know down in the comments. And if you want to see me get behind the controls of one of these Unitree G1 humanoid robots

you can check out our video from CES right here. As always, thanks so much for watching

I'm your host, Jesse Orrell. See you next time, what's down