Photos of Beijing's World Humanoid Robot Games show how a human touch is still needed

BEIJING (AP) — Humanoid robots raced and punched their way through three days of a multi-sport competition at the World Humanoid Robot Games, wrapping up Sunday in Beijing.

But they also toppled, crashed and collapsed, requiring humans’ help and leading to questions about how far, after all, the robots can go on their own.

The games featured more than 500 humanoids on 280 teams from 16 countries, including the United States, Germany and Japan, that competed in sports such as soccer, running and boxing at the 12,000-seater National Speed Skating Oval, built for the 2022 Winter Olympics.

The event comes as China has stepped up efforts to develop humanoid robots powered by artificial intelligence.

Robots were often seen close to their operators, whether they were controlled remotely, held, lifted, sorted or separated. Batteries needed replacing and limbs tuned.

Although the robots showed off some impressive moves, some tripped and human intervention was never far from the field. One had to be carried out by two people, like an injured athlete, in a display of the limitations the machines are still facing.

Their effect on the audience, however, was not unlike that of real athletes. Cheers erupted when a robot landed a punch, scored a goal, or won a game, showing that viewers were genuinely invested in the machines’ endeavors.

AI-powered robots are expected to be increasingly used in industrial settings.

A robot competes in a race during the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Winners from different games pose for celebratory photographs during the closing ceremony of the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A robot stands in front of the net at a soccer demonstration match between humans vs robots during the closing ceremony of the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Sunday, Aug. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Technicians work on robots before a soccer game at the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Technicians check a robot after it fell during an event during the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A woman touches the hand of a robot that performed in the dance event at the World Humanoid Robot Games Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A technicians works on robots during the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A technician examines the head of a robot at the World Humanoid Robot Games Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Technicians guide robots away after they competed in a soccer event at the World Humanoid Robot Games Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A referee announces the winner of a Free Combat event during the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A referee supports the head of a robot after it fell during the Free Combat event at the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

People attend the opening ceremony of the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A robot is pulled by its legs after it fell during the Free Combat event at the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Robots participate in the Free Combat event at the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Workers transfer a robot before the opening ceremony for the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Thursday, Aug. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A technician assists a robot that fell during a soccer match at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A technician fixes the arm of a robot during the World Humanoid Robot Games held in Beijing, China, Saturday, Aug. 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A technician assists a robot during a Soccer Event at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A robot crashes during a soccer match at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

Robots play soccer at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

A robot competes in the 1500m race during the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing, China, Friday, Aug. 15, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahesh Kumar A.)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — An SUV driver was under the influence of drugs when she swerved into the wrong lane, blew a red light and slammed into a Los Angeles city bus, killing two riders, prosecutors said Thursday as they charged her with murder.

It was a tragedy compounded by the subsequent fatal crash of a TV news helicopter that had been covering the collision.

Bailee Lynn Rios was speeding and impaired when she drove her 2004 Ford Expedition the wrong way down a busy avenue and struck a vehicle before plowing into a city bus on Tuesday, Los Angeles County District Attorney Nathan Hochman told a news conference.

Rios, 36, faces two charges of second-degree murder in the deaths of the two people on the bus, identified as Daniel Castillo, 46, and Gage Weida, 31. Castillo left four children.

“There are no words that can truly capture how much we will miss him or the space he leaves behind in our lives,” Castillo’s youngest daughter, Johaunna, wrote on a fundraising page for funeral expenses.

Rios was being held on $4.1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in court Friday. Online court records did not list a lawyer who might speak on her behalf, and the public defender’s office did not immediately return a message about whether it was representing her.

Reached Wednesday, her mother Cindy Rios said she was shocked and saddened by the string of events. She said she had not spoken to Bailee Lynn Rios since her arrest and had not been contacted by law enforcement. She could not immediately be reached Thursday for additional comment.

The news helicopter crash killed both people on board, pilot George Marciniw and reporter Eliana Moreno, and a man on the ground, Edy Gutierrez Mejia. At least four cars and two storage containers burned after the helicopter caught fire.

A vigil was planned Thursday evening to honor the victims of both crashes.

There were no immediate details on what caused the helicopter to go down, but investigators said significant clues could come from the last seconds of video the crew broadcast. In it, an alarm could be heard inside the helicopter’s cockpit as it lost altitude.

National Transportation Safety Board investigator Fabian Salazar said Wednesday that the video is “probably the most important evidence that we have discovered so far.”

Just after the beeping starts, a woman’s voice says “uh oh.” The helicopter moves quickly away from the bus crash site and starts losing altitude. The woman says “You can’t pull up?” before the video stops as the chopper nears the ground.

Aviation safety expert Jeff Guzzetti said the alarm suggests a potential loss of engine power and a dangerous decrease in the main rotor speed. He said the pilot appeared to be trying to perform an emergency maneuver to use the wind to force the rotor to spin again.

The NTSB is also investigating the bus collision.

Moreno and Marciniw both worked for Angel City Air, a helicopter contractor, and provided aerial coverage for NBC4 and Telemundo 52.

Moreno, born in Orange County, joined Angel City Air in 2010, the same year she earned a broadcast journalism and political science degree from Chapman University. She reported for several news outlets and began flying with Marciniw in 2023, NBC4 said.

Marciniw grew up in Southern California and graduated from Burbank High School in 1974.

There have been at least eight fatal crashes involving news helicopters in the U.S. since 2000, killing 16 people, according to a review of federal accident records and news accounts.

A memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, who died in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station, at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) ADDITION: the day prior while covering an accident for a television station.

A person adjusts flowers at a memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw, who died in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station, at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope) ADDITION: Adds in a helicopter crash the day prior while covering an accident for a television station.

A memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw who died in a helicopter crash is seen at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

In this aerial view, people investigate the aftermath of a news helicopter crash in Chatsworth, a neighborhood in Los Angeles, on Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026.(AP Photo/Ethan Swope)

A person adjusts flowers at a memorial for Eliana Moreno and George Marciniw who died in a helicopter crash at the site where their helicopter used to park at Whiteman Airport in Los Angeles, Wednesday, Sept. 16, 2026. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)