Networks Spend Over 18 Minutes Gushing Over Creepy Chinese Robot Convention

Between last Friday and Tuesday, the “Big Three” of ABC, CBS, and NBC spent 18 minutes and 25 seconds on their flagship morning and evening newscasts fawning, giggling, and reveling in the Chinese Communist Party’s second World Humanoid Robot Games with thousands of robots completing tasks ranging from basic household chores to track and field events. Missing was any direct acknowledgment of concerns about surveillance by the CCP.

The most we got were a pathetic two sentences from NBC alluding to a U.S. ban on robots and quadrupeds because of “national security concerns.”

ABC only had two minutes and seven seconds on the robots with pure fluff, leaning into the adage of amusing ourselves to death. Pay no attention to the fact that the CCP is serious about global domination! Disney wants you to point and laugh at robots running fast!

Saturday’s World News Tonight started it off with a 27-second brief from anchor Whit Johnson: 

A humanoid robot called Lightning is officially faster than Olympian Usain Bolt, clocking 9.32 seconds in a 100-meter test. There they go. That’s faster than Bolt’s 2009 world record. It happened today in Beijing at the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games. This year’s games feature more than 2,000 robots from 666 teams across 16 countries. Pretty fast. 

Sunday’s Good Morning America even made Lightning’s run its “Play of the Day.” Co-host Gio Benitez and fill-in Rhiannon Ally and Will Ganss were all laughs as they showed both the world-record-breaking run and another video of two robots engaged in a boxing match.

Ganss even chuckled about how “in classic cartoon fashion — this might be my favorite of the weekend — this guy running like Phoebe Buffay from Friends stopping before he hits the blue wall, and then the fall in slow motion.” 

The third and final ABC mention was another 27-second brief. This time, it was Monday’s World News Tonight with anchor David Muir touting “the race of robots” and blurting out in amazement, “Who knew they even existed?”

Seeing as how much business parent company Disney does in China, it’s no surprise ABC chose not to express serious concern about the robots.

NBC was next with six minutes and 20 seconds, between Today and NBC Nightly News across two briefs and two on-site reports.

They started with 44 seconds on Sunday Today as host Willie Geist tossed to break with a look at Lightning’s run. Geist at least had the decency to call the games “haunting” and “strange.”

Monday’s Nightly News had the other brief with anchor Tom Llamas calling it a story “from the-robots-are-taking-over files” with the winning run as well as a “weight-lifting robot,” who had “[p]retty good form at first, but definitely not Arnold Schwarzenegger” as “[i]t drop[ped] the barbell and then trips right over the weights.”

“Pretty sad,” he quipped.

In between were stories on Sunday and Monday with Beijing-based correspondent Janis Mackey Frayer.

“Back now with the global competition putting humanoid robots to the test with some of them already beating records set by actual humans,” gushed Sunday Nightly News anchor Hallie Jackson.

Mackey Frayer swooned over the “[h]umanoid robots in China are breaking human records for speed,” boxing, and “tasks that are, well, mundane or boring even by human standards,” all thanks to “being promoted heavily by China’s government” (click “expand”):

Humanoid robots in China are breaking human records for speed, running the 100 meter faster than sprinter Usain Belt before smashing into a padded wall at the finish lin. Stopping it seems still a work in progress. At the Humanoid Games, machines big and small also compete in events where they hit hard and jump high. The event in its second year being promoted heavily by China’s government and shows how getting ahead in robotics is a national priority here.

A robot conference alongside the games offering a window into that strategy to turn the spectacle of tricks and kicks into a commercial industry. There are hundreds of robot companies here in China making machines back in box each other or run faster than people if that’s what you need your robots to do. But the bigger focus at this World Robot Conference in Beijing appears to be on tasks that are, well, mundane or boring even by human standards.

Only then did she offer the first of two esoteric allusions to the dark side of what China has planned for these robots: “Yet, none of what’s on display in China will be finding its way to the United States. The Trump administration banning imports of newly-made foreign humanoids and quadrupeds, citing national security concerns with 82 percent of humanoid shipments around the world coming from China.”

After a pro-Chinese statement by an American robotics executive, Mackey Frayer concluded: “While China is seen as having a clear lead in manufacturing and scaling robots, the technology, though, still flawed with fumbles and flying sparks, a reminder that robots still have a ways to go.”

Mackey Frayer returned for Monday’s Today, cued up by Meet the Press moderator Kristen Welker remarking it’s “unbelievable,” adding: “If you need proof of just how far technology has come, look no further than the World Humanoid Robot Games.”

“It’s like Back to the Future here. There are 2,000 robots on 700 teams competing in events ranging from kickboxing and tai-chi to boring stuff like connecting cables. All of it designed to showcase how the robotics industry is evolving here, and also to get attention, which isn’t hard, when some of the robots are running so fast, there’s a padded wall and stretcher at the finish line,” Mackey Frayer enthused.

She said the record-breaking runs and other events are “meant to display feats of science, but also how seriously China has made robotics a national priority here” to not only fight, but fulfill “skills that are useful: Things like folding laundry and stacking boxes — the sort of at-your-service tasks that have long nurtured the notion that robots could one day have a place in homes.”

Following a scene from Bicentennial Man, Mackey Frayer dropped the only other mention from the broadcast networks, vaguely citing fears of Big Brother: “Yet, none of what’s shaping the future here will be in the U.S. anytime soon. The Trump administration banning imports of newly-made foreign humanoids and quadrupeds, citing national security concerns.”

Likely to please any Chinese minders on her, she quickly pivoted back to the fluff and this “economic win for China,” quipping the “kinks, fumbles, and sparks” have, along with a “flameout,” “captur[ed] attention” with “entertainment value” as spectators likely “prefer when they trip over their own feet.”

CBS had the most time at nine minutes and 58 seconds over six blocks, starting on the August 20 CBS Mornings ahead of the game's opening with featured co-host Vladimir Duthiers promoting the fact that “[o]ne of the world’s greatest athletes has a new challenger” as part of a giggle-filled story in the show’s “What to Watch” block.

CBS Saturday Morning also weighed in with co-host Kelly O’Grady and fill-in Meg Oliver laughing with Oliver particularly discounting their abilities to do household tasks (click “expand”):

This gets Kelly every time. Real-life rock ‘em, sock ‘em robots. Remember that game? These boxing humanoids are just some of the advanced technology on display at the World Robot Conference in Beijing this week.

(....)

We’re also seeing robots that can fight fires, okay. Fold laundry, check, check, check. Carry luggage, I don’t need that. Play ping pong, I think I would beat them. And even offer emotional support. Organizers say around 3,000 products will be on display...Despite the advanced tasks these robots are showing off, experts say they are still a long way from having practical uses. I don’t need someone dancing. I need somebody grocery shopping. I need somebody cleaning my kitchen. Do you see my theme of domestic help? 

Next came a 16-second brief on Saturday’s CBS Weekend News with Jericka Duncan about Lightning’s Bolt-breaking time and then an anchor-less still shot and caption on Sunday Morning of robots dressed as Dalmatians.

Like with Friday, Monday’s CBS Mornings had the robots in focus for laughs during “What to Watch.” At least fill-in co-host and chief Washington correspondent Major Garrett was dismissive of the scene, noting sprinting robots like Lightning “can’t run around the track with the flag, do all the other cool stuff because it’s not a human being!”

Garrett did concede “they are far more advanced than they were just one year ago, and that is the underlying, murky part of the story.”

Hong Kong-based correspondent Anna Coren finally showed up on-site for Monday’s CBS Evening News, telling viewers “it hasn’t all gone to plan” for a whole host of robots with flameouts, but “it feels like we are seeing the soldiers of tomorrow tested in front of the world’s media.”

She even found one Chinese engineer who told her the world could see these robots serve in war “five to 10 years” from now.

Coren resurfaced for a lengthier segment on Tuesday’s CBS Mornings. Co-host Nate Burleson gushed about “China...showcasing its rapid advances in robotics and AI” and delivered an unspecified warning about the robots being “a sign of bigger and scarier things to come.”

She front-loaded the fluff before reiterating the part about robots becoming soldiers, leaving out any mention of recording capabilities or use as spy tools. Instead, she added this time an all-too-generous description of how the World Humanoid Games allows China to continue “prov[ing] itself as fierce rival to the United States, embracing AI and tech in every aspect of life.”

Never mind the all-encompassing national security laws, cameras, and social credit scores (click “expand”):

COREN: So much promise as the bar lives above the humanoid robot’s head, only to vanish with a few stumbles. His minder is forced to stretcher him away. Another competitor takes to the stage, but weightlifting isn’t for the fate-hearted, even when you’re a machine. The second World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing is clearly pushing these 2,000-plus machines to the limit. The 400-meter obstacle course is one of the most challenging and entertaining events as robots attempt to jump, climb, maneuver through swinging tires and crawl through a tunnel. Some master the difficult circuit, while others collapse only to persevere, an endearing quality that’s winning hearts and minds, and plenty of fans. “Of course, I’m proud of them,” explains this spectator. “They might fall during competition, but they react quickly and get right back up. They’re strong and resilient.” For the overwhelming number of Chinese engineers who’ve developed them, this isn’t humiliation, but rather ironing out the glitches, as China proves itself a fierce rival to the United States, embracing AI and tech in every aspect of life. Well, this is about China showing off its technological advances in this futuristic field. It also feels like we are seeing the soldiers of tomorrow being tested in front of the world’s media. A3 is competing as a kickboxer, but his engineer Yang Kuan says this robot has other real-life capabilities.

YANG KUN: It can also do some combat and maybe go into the military.

COREN [TO KUN]: How far away are we from having robot soldiers?

KUN: I’d say five to 10 years.

COREN: A glimpse into a possible future with these robots’ physical attributes could one day be used on the scene of a natural disaster or a battlefield. Now, the 100-meters [sic] semi-finals is [sic] underway, and I can tell you that we have a new record — 8.83 seconds. Now, a couple of nights ago, a robot broke Usain Bolt’s record. Well, that has now been surpassed, which is quite extraordinary. The crowd here, absolutely, loving it, lapping it up. This has been a great source of national pride as well as entertainment[.]

Remarkably, Burleson used a brief back-and-forth to prop up the CCP further: “[E]xtraordinary indeed. Tumbles and stumbles aside on all these viral clips we’re seeing, Anna, is it fair to say that China is now leading the world when it comes to robotics and the AI?”

Coren agreed what China has done is “pretty extraordinary” by “produc[ing] 97 percent of the world’s humanoid robots, so they certainly are leading in this space.”

Speaking of more bias by omission, notice Coren skipping over why the Chinese population is struggling because of its past one-child policy:

We know the rivalry between the United States and China is — is fierce, but robots are something that China is going to need. This is an aging and shrinking population, and they are going to need those robots to take part in their industrial machine as well as their economy. This is something that China will need in the future. But this isn’t a problem just for China. It’s a problem for much of the world, so these robots....will be used right across the world