The World Humanoid Robot Games opened with a tennis match no humanoid had previously sustained. Galbot’s robots traded more than 100 consecutive rallies with human champions in Beijing on Sunday, a mark the company calls a first for its kind.
The doubles format put a robot beside a human partner, requiring shared court coverage and responses to both opponents’ shots. Galbot says the machines served, volleyed and recovered from stumbles without a reset, all broadcast live.
Autonomy is the contested claim. The company says no teleoperation and no preprogrammed sequences were involved, with the robots perceiving the ball, choosing shots and adapting in real time. A hundred uninterrupted exchanges is a meaningful endurance signal for perception, whole-body control and timing.
Galbot compares the moment to AlphaGo, though the analogy has limits. DeepMind’s program beat Lee Sedol in a digital, fully observed space, while tennis is continuous, physical and partly hidden.
The company, whose G1 wheeled humanoid targets retail, manufacturing and pharmacy work, has not released ball speeds or intervention counts. Outside confirmation of the record is still outstanding.
