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Humanoid robot beats human half-marathon world record in Beijing

▶ Watch Video: Video shows humanoid robot setting record in half-marathon in Beijing

A humanoid robot aptly named Lightning made history on the streets of Beijing over the weekend, beating the human half-marathon world record by several minutes.

Dozens of robots lined up for the Beijing E-Town Robot Half Marathon on Sunday, tackling the 13-mile (21-kilometer) race separate from human runners.

Developed by Chinese smartphone company Honor, Lightning completed the half-marathon in just over 50 minutes, besting the human world record for the distance of over 57 minutes.

A Lightning humanoid robot by Honor crosses the finish line of the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing, China, April 19, 2026.
A Lightning humanoid robot by Honor crosses the finish line of the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing, China, April 19, 2026.

Reuters/Maxim Shemetov

Lightning’s creators were delighted with the result. Du Xiaodi, a development engineer at Honor, was quick to draw comparisons with other industries.

“Looking ahead, some of these technologies might be transferred to other areas,” said Du. “It’s similar to how the automotive industry initially developed through competitions.”

The event tested robots in real-world conditions, from balance and endurance to navigation. Some ran autonomously, while others were controlled remotely, all competing on a parallel course to avoid collisions with human athletes.

It wasn’t flawless. A few robots stumbled or veered off course, and one was carried away on a stretcher after breaking to pieces in a fall.

Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing
Staff carry a humanoid robot that crashed after the finish line of the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing, China, April 19, 2026.

Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS

But the progress was striking compared to last year, when most struggled to even finish the race.

Some spectators weren’t worried by the failures.

“I’m very excited,” said Sun Zhigang. “First of all, it’s the first time robots have surpassed humans, and that’s something I never imagined.”

“Their performance is quite impressive,” Jiang Liangzhi said. “I didn’t expect the speeds to be this fast already, and they’re all very stable.”

Runners participating in the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon take pictures of the Tiangong Ultra 2026 humanoid robot participating in the Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing, China, April 19, 2026.
People take pictures of the Tiangong Ultra 2026 humanoid robot participating in the Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing, China, April 19, 2026.

Reuters/Tingshu Wang

Organizers said the marathon isn’t really about speed. It’s about pushing robotics technology beyond the lab with potential applications in manufacturing, logistics and even emergency response.

Chinese companies are pushing ahead with the development of robot technologies for both civilian and military uses, but Beijing’s robot half-marathon shows just how fast the future is moving from science fiction to sporting reality.

Second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing
Team members celebrate next to winning robot Lightning during a medial ceremony after the second Beijing E-Town Half Marathon and Humanoid Robot Half Marathon in Beijing, China, April 19, 2026.

Maxim Shemetov / REUTERS

Former US archivists warn that Trump’s effort to ignore records law jeopardizes national security and government continuity

By CNN
(CNN) — Former leaders of the National Archives — which preserves and protects the nation’s most important documents — are urging a federal appeals court to reject the Trump administration’s effort to ignore the Presidential Records Act, a decades old law that requires presidents save all official records from their time in office.Six archivists, who served under both Republican and Democratic presidents, argue that the law is critical in maintaining “continuity of governance” and protecting national security.The archivists — a coalition covering every living person to have previously held the role before Marco Rubio’s brief appointment to the position at the beginning of Trump’s second term — filed an amicus brief Wednesday in support of a lawsuit from presidential scholars, historians and public transparency groups.The legal fight began after the Trump administration said it believed the president did not need to comply with decades-old record-keeping obligations set by Congress in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal. The law, which Trump’s Justice Department has claimed is unconstitutional, is intended to preserve documents so that future presidents, members of Congress, courts and the public can understand how an administration made critical decisions.“Preserving presidential records ensures that new leaders can have immediate and ongoing access to the data, strategy, and rationale behind past policy decisions,” the group said, noting that, in their experience, the most “frequent request for preserved presidential records comes from the incoming president’s national security advisors.”The archivists signed on to the brief are Trudy Huskamp Peterson, John W. Carlin, David S. Ferriero, Debra Steidel Wall, Colleen Shogan and William J. Bosanko — as well as Gary M. Stern, a former agency general counsel.The plea from the former archivists comes months after a federal judge in Washington said that White House staff must preserve their official records while the lawsuit plays out in court but declined to put any restrictions directly on the president, the vice president, the National Archives and archivist.In the May ruling, US District Judge John Bates concluded that the Presidential Records Act (PRA) was likely constitutional, rebuking the stance taken by the Justice Department earlier this year. The Justice Department has appealed the ruling to the US DC Circuit Court of Appeals. Oral arguments are slated for October 16.The PRA requires presidents and their staff to preserve White House records and turn those records over to the National Archives at the end of their administrations.It was instrumental in the chain of events that led to Trump’s prosecution for allegedly mishandling classified documents that he took from the White House at the end of his first term.The legal fight stems from a conclusion from Trump’s Office of Legal Counsel, a Justice Department office that gives advice to the executive branch, that the law was unconstitutional. The OLC memo was seen as an audacious move for a number of reasons, including for how it seemed to eschew Supreme Court precedent backing Congress’ power to regulate presidential record preservation. The guidance only addressed the preservation of email and text messages, rather than all electronic records, which the PRA covers.The American Historical Association and the left-leaning government transparency group American Oversight quickly filed a lawsuit, warning that presidential records they intend to use for their research “will be irretrievably lost” if the court didn’t intervene.The former archivists say the PRA “helps to bridge the gap between the outgoing and incoming administrations.”“Geopolitical tensions do not pause for an inauguration,” they wrote in the court filing. “Presidential records include the entire holdings of the National Security Council… such as sensitive intelligence assessments, treaty negotiations, and operational contingency plans. Ensuring that these files are preserved and seamlessly made available to new administration officials allows incoming national security advisors and cabinet officials to evaluate active threats, maintain diplomatic momentum, and make informed decisions during unexpected global crises.”The administration has rebuffed concerns, insisting that the “lion’s share” of presidential records are being preserved, because work being done by presidential staff on White House-issued phones is being kept.CNN’s Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2026 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
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