BEIJING — It was not even close as a bright red Chinese humanoid named “Lightning” lived up to its name in a half-marathon pitting humans against robots, smoking its competition on Sunday

An autonomous scarlet robot named “Lightning” finished a 13-mile race in Beijing on Sunday in just 50 minutes and 26 seconds, less than half the time of last year’s fastest robot, which took two hours and 40 minutes.

Chinese startups are churning out more humanoid robots than their U.S. rivals, despite far lower valuations.

Humanoid robots are often marketed as the next leap in automation—machines that can walk, talk, grasp objects, and think independently. Product videos show robots folding laundry, stocking shelves, or assisting in hospitals with near-human capability.