China put robots in a cage, and it was not for entertainment

12 Aug 2026 · 1 min

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In this monologue, Dan Novaes describes a new wave of humanoid robots battling in cage arenas, likening the spectacle to a modern version of BattleBots. He explains that every movement these robots perform—kicks, flips, dances—is learned from large datasets of human motion, a challenging problem in physics and AI. Novaes notes that China is deliberately showcasing these robot fights in public arenas as a tactical move to demonstrate its advanced robotics capabilities and signal what’s coming next. He argues that physical AI, trained on human data, will soon extend beyond combat to household chores and blue‑collar work, and that individuals can now be compensated for contributing their motion data. The video serves as a warning and a preview of how physical AI could reshape entertainment, labor, and data monetization.

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So 2 humanoid robots fighting in a cage. Is this the future of MMA? If you're old enough to remember BattleBots from the '90s, this is the modern-day version. These robots are now able to kick, dance, fly, and they will only become better at fighting each other. It's only a matter of time before you see a full-blown Tron-style elimination match between these bots. The thing is, every single movement that these robots do is trained on human data— how they fly through the air, how they kick, how they land. It's one of the hardest things to solve in modern-day physics. So in China, they're already putting robots in these arenas to put them in the front and center of the public eye. This is actually a very tactical move so that they show how advanced Chinese robotics is and what's coming next. Physical robots will be able to handle everything from physical match to household chores to doing modern blue-collar work. Physical AI runs on human data, and for the first time, you can get paid for yours. Follow to learn more.