From Dance Floor to War: China Prepares Humanoid Robots for Combat

At a humanoid robot games event in China last month, machines jumped, boxed and danced, while some ran faster than Usain Bolt over 100 meters. Two days later, the People’s Liberation Army’s official newspaper drew a military lesson from the spectacle, calling for faster transfer of advanced technologies from laboratories to training grounds for robotic “combatants.”

A Reuters review of more than 100 Chinese military procurement notices, academic studies, patents, official publications, government records and defense-company materials found that China’s defense establishment is accelerating research into military uses for humanoid robots. Military institutions are testing the machines against battlefield requirements, seeking robots and training technologies, and examining how humanoids could operate alongside troops.

The work gained momentum in 2025 and 2026, with researchers focusing on robot perception, manipulation and training data. Chinese manufacturers accounted for about 95% of global humanoid shipments in 2025, according to BofA Global Research. That commercial lead gives the People’s Liberation Army access to an expanding industry as it develops military applications.

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Going where we don’t want humans to go is one of the most compelling reasons to develop robots in the first place.

The research reflects a wider military interest in autonomous systems. In the Russia-Ukraine war, semiautonomous drones using artificial intelligence for navigation and targeting have changed reconnaissance and attacks, while robots carry supplies and retrieve casualties. Dennis Hong, a UCLA professor, said one of the strongest reasons to develop robots is sending them where humans should not go. “If losing a robot means avoiding the loss of a human life, then the robot can become expendable.”

China’s defense ministry and the National University of Defense Technology did not respond to requests for comment. Reuters found no evidence that China has deployed an armed humanoid with an operational PLA unit. The machines remain energy-intensive and unreliable outside controlled demonstrations, and unpredictable battlefield conditions challenge their capabilities, said Aaron Johnson, a Carnegie Mellon University mechanical engineering professor. China already has a vision for using humanoids, robot dogs and unmanned vehicles in urban warfare, but the supplied article ends while describing that concept.

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If losing a robot means avoiding the loss of a human life, then the robot can become expendable.