The Chinese robotics company AgiBot has set a new world record for the longest continuous journey walked by a humanoid robot. AgiBot’s A2 walked 106.286 kilometers (66.04 miles), according to Guinness World Records, making the trek from Nov. 10-13.
The robot journeyed from Jinji Lake in China’s Jiangsu province to Shanghai’s Bund waterfront district, according to China’s Global Times news outlet. The robot never powered off and reportedly continued to operate while batteries were swapped out, according to UPI.
A video posted to YouTube shows a highly edited version of the walk that doesn’t give much insight into how it was presumably monitored by human handlers. But even if it did have some humans playing babysitter, the journey included just about everything you’d expect when traveling by foot in an urban environment, including different types of ground, limited visibility at night, and slopes, according to the Global Times.
The robot obeyed traffic signals, but it’s unclear what level of autonomy may have been at work. The company told the Global Times that “the robot was equipped with dual GPS modules along with its built-in lidar and infrared depth cameras, giving it the sensing capability needed for accurate navigation through changing light conditions and complex urban environments.”
That suggests it was fully autonomous, and the Guinness Book of World Records used the word “autonomous,” though Gizmodo couldn’t independently confirm that claim.
“Walking from Suzhou to Shanghai is difficult for many people to do in one go, yet the robot completed it,” Wang Chuang, partner and senior vice president at AgiBot, told the Global Times.
The amount of autonomy a robot is operating under is a big question when it comes to companies rolling out their demonstrations. Elon Musk’s Optimus robot has been ridiculed at various points because the billionaire has tried to imply his Tesla robot is more autonomous than it actually is in real life.
For example, Musk posted a video in January 2024 that appeared to show Optimus folding a shirt. That’s historically been a difficult task for robots to accomplish autonomously. And, as it turns out, Optimus was actually being teleoperated by someone who was just off-screen. Well, not too far off-screen. The teleoperator’s hand was peeking into the frame, which is how people figured it out.
Musk did something similar in October 2024 when he showed off Optimus robots supposedly pouring beer during his big Cybercab event in Los Angeles. They were teleoperated as well.
It’s entirely possible that AgiBot’s A2 walked the entire route autonomously. The tech really is getting that good, even if long-lasting batteries are still a big hurdle. But obviously, people need to remain skeptical when it comes to spectacular claims in the robot race.
We’ve been promised robotic servants for over a century now. And the people who have historically sold that idea are often unafraid to use deception to hype up their latest achievements. Remember Miss Honeywell of 1968? Or Musk’s own unveiling of Optimus? They were nothing more than humans in a robot costume.
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