Humanoid robot keeps fighting, even after his block was knocked off!

In what seems to be a complete failure to abide by the rules, Robot continues fighting after having block knocked off.

China’s humanoid robots continue to improve their kung fu and have expanded into MMA cage fighting. The Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend tournament is a showcase for EngineAI’s humanoid robot, the T800.

The model is seemingly unironically named after the Terminator model with the same designation, but perhaps legally distinct without the hyphen. The company provides the robots, and the teams develop the software that determines how their individual robot performs.

200 teams entered the tournament. Simulations reduced the field to 32, who are currently fighting for 8 spots in the double-elimination final, which will determine the Ultimate Robot Knock-out Legend. According to the South China Morning Post, the winner will receive “a pure gold championship belt weighing 10kgs and worth up to 10 million yuan (US$1.476 million).”

Two robots named White Eagle and Bullfighter fought each other in an exhibition match before the current round began. The match consisted largely of kicking, occasionally into empty space as the robots lost track of each other. Bullfighter’s head dangled by a few wires after, eventually coming off entirely. Undeterred by losing its head, the robot fought on and won by decision.

Even martial arts legend Donnie Yen, who was in attendance, was impressed. That’s how it starts, Donnie. Ooh, aah. Then later there’s the running and screaming. Ian Malcolm was talking about dinosaurs, but surely he would issue the same warning about ass-kicking humanoid robots.