On August 19th, at the 2026 World Robot Conference held in Beijing, a humanoid robot collapsed and uncontrollably kicked its legs, leaving the staff temporarily helpless. The video of the incident went viral online, sparking discussions and concerns among the public.
The circulated video shows that in the afternoon of the 19th, at a booth in the 2026 World Robot Conference, a robot suddenly lost control, fell to the ground, and wildly kicked its legs. Staff at the scene hurriedly tried to restrain the robot, while another staff member attempted to control it with a remote device, but to no avail.
After the related video emerged online, many netizens commented, “This thing is quite scary, even several people couldn’t handle it when it went out of control.” “In medical terms, it’s called epilepsy, but in our village, we call this ‘mother pig wind’.” “Hawking predicted that if humans do not end research on robots, in the future robots will dominate and defeat humanity.”
Robot “malfunctions” have occurred in some past public competitions or events, such as robots suddenly falling, losing their heads, or even attacking humans.
On February 3rd, an incident occurred at Kade Square (Charm City Store) in Chengdu, where a robot accidentally kicked an elderly bystander. In late March, at an event in Shaanxi, a robot performing a dance routine accidentally hit a young boy in the face with its swinging arm.
On August 14, 2025, at the 2025 World Humanoid Robot Games, robot falls and slow movements leading to unfinished competitions became the subject of ridicule.
On June 28, 2025, during a robot soccer match held in Beijing, AI-controlled robots participating in the game fell due to unstable movements.
Report:
First-Ever World Humanoid Robot Competition Raises Concerns over Malfunctions