China's New 'Superman' Robot Is A Back-Flipping, Record-Breaking Powerhouse

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The Chinese company Unitree Robotics has unveiled its new "Superman" robot that can run and jump like no human has ever been able to. Unitree uploaded a video on YouTube that shows the Superman bot performing a standing high jump of approximately two meters and running at a speed of 12.66 meters per second. For comparison, the global human high jump record is approximately 1.8 meters, and the running speed record is 12.4 meters per second.

The Unitree robot video is real, but it's also just one example of how Chinese robots are breaking human records across the board. Earlier in 2026, a humanoid robot from China beat the world's half-marathon record. Even as far back as 2017, a lightning-fast robot took the Rubik's Cube world record. It may seem obvious that a machine can do what a human cannot, but it's actually not that simple.

In order to mimic or exceed the range of movement and flexibility that a human has, Unitree's robots use upwards of 40 joint motors and advanced AI models to achieve precise balance and articulation. Unitree's G1 and H2 models were used in a Chinese New Year robot demonstration in which they performed complex choreography alongside a class of young martial arts students. This level of coordination and advanced mobility has only become possible within the last year or so of robotics innovation.

Using the name "Superman" for the latest record-breaking robot is an interesting choice. It not only evokes an image of a comic-book superhero, but it also implies that the robot is able to do things that humans cannot. But if these robots are built to look like us and move like us, how exactly are they able to outperform us?

The Atom Humanoid Robot from Dobot demonstrates one way to improve on the design of the human body. Its legs are built like ours, but it uses a straight-knee walking technique that's more energy-efficient than the bent-knee method that we use, even though bending the knee gives us more stability. The GoMate robot from Guangzhou Auto Group uses a wheel-leg hybrid design — which is obviously a stark departure from how our bodies are built — but it makes it superior for industrial jobs and logistics applications.

Among all the Chinese robotics companies that are making names for themselves, Unitree Robotics is considered the world's biggest humanoid robot maker. Unitree has come a long way since 2024, when its H1 humanoid broke the robot speed record. And now, China has so many humanoid robots that it had to create a unique ID system to account for all of them. If you happen to want one for yourself, you can get a Unitree G1 Humanoid Robot on Amazon for $17,990.