Russian humanoid robot falls on its face in hyped debut

MOSCOW – It was an entrance befitting a heavyweight bout, complete with the theme music from the sports film Rocky.

But a humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence, believed to be one of the first in Russia, face-planted during its highly anticipated debut in Moscow on Nov 11 after briefly staggering onstage.

Organisers quickly dragged the machine away, raising a black drape to shield it from about 50 journalists who had gathered to watch the demonstration, an inauspicious entry for Russia into the increasingly competitive international space of AI-powered robots resembling humans.

The anthropomorphic robot, known as AIDOL, appeared to lose its balance after waving to the audience. It keeled over moments later, faster than Ivan Drago, Rocky Balboa’s vanquished Russian rival in Rocky IV.

“At first, there was a moment of silence,” Mr Dmitry Filonov, editor-in-chief of Edinorog Media, who was in the audience and covers technology start-ups, said in a text message on Nov 12. “Then they began to applaud to show their support.”

The robot’s developer, a company also known as AIDOL, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Nov 12.

Organisers attributed the robot’s problems to calibration and lighting issues, according to journalists who attended the event.

Mr Vladimir Vitukhin, AIDOL’s chief executive, told Russian state news agency Tass that the robot was still in the stages of learning.

“I hope this mistake will turn into an experience,” he said.

The robot’s developers suggested on a website for the project that the AI-embodied machine could walk, handle objects and communicate with people. That could make it attractive for a host of potential uses, they said, including in the automotive industry, warehouses and medicine, as well as for entertainment.

Dozens of companies – from lesser-known start-ups to technology Goliaths – are planning to sell humanoids and get them into homes and businesses.

In 2024, investments in humanoid technology surpassed US$1.6 billion (S$2 billion), a sum that did not include a multibillion-dollar infusion from tech billionaire Elon Musk and Tesla, his electric car company, into Optimus, a humanoid they began building in 2021.

Mr Filonov said it was not unusual for robotics start-ups to experience growing pains, pointing to the company Boston Dynamics as another example. A few years ago, it compiled a blooper reel featuring its Atlas robot that drew widespread attention online.

Writing on his Substack blog before the Nov 11 event, Mr Filonov said the AIDOL robot was expected to have mobility issues.

He said that the vast majority of humanoid robots do not have faces, but that the developers of AIDOL had told him they had invested heavily in its face and in technology that is meant to mimic humans.

“I think that they were just unlucky,” he said. NYTIMES