HackerTubewatch
Surprise me
Frame from Martial arts robots dazzle at 2026 Spring Festival Gala #CoolChina #springfestival2026 #kungfu Plays via YouTube's privacy-enhanced embed

Martial arts robots dazzle at 2026 Spring Festival Gala #CoolChina #springfestival2026 #kungfu

CGTN
News
YouTube
Cited on HN 5 times, 2026, never outright recommended score 0
Years with an HN recommendation, 2007–2026

Cited as a snapshot of Chinese humanoid robot capability, with some commenters doubting its authenticity.

CGTN coverage of the 2026 Spring Festival Gala, in which humanoid robots perform synchronized martial arts routines alongside children.

“They’re incredibly capable (again, save for hands which is a huge mechanical and software problem) and cheap.” (HN, 2026)

4 citations · 1 critical · News · news from the time

5 Hacker News comments

From the HN archive; up to 20 kept per video, favoring different commenters. Recommendations first.

@somenameforme Feb 2026 Cites it
on HN thread Martial arts robots dazzle at 2026 Spring Festival Gala [video]
Can you elaborate on where? I'm not seeing anything at all at 1:25. This is a timestamp to 1:24: [this video] I was initially somewhat skeptical as well because this looks like a surprisingly massive leap in robotics capability, but haven't been able to find anything particularly sus.
@somenameforme Feb 2026 Cites it
on HN thread Martial arts robots dazzle at 2026 Spring Festival Gala [video]
Read more
Why do you think it would be the case about e.g. swapping to thick carpet would throw things off? Intuitively it seems like they must have a tremendous amount of dynamic adjustment going on. For instance think of how much variance, driven by dynamics, that there's going to be in the scene at 2:48 [1] where the robot [intentionally] falls over and then aerobically picks itself back up. The motion is certainly scripted, but the exact mechanics in play there almost certainly vary radically from take to take. Imagine something simple like a pool/billiards break. Even if you set up a machine to rack the balls and break them in as close to identical as possible, you'd get wildly different results each time. And the dynamics in this motion is going to dwarf that. [1] - [this video]
Robot falling and recovering at 2:48.
@dangus Mar 2026 Cites it
on HN thread U.S. science agency moves to restrict foreign scientists from its labs
Read more
Used to be that America was great because the smartest researchers in the world wanted to come here, often escaping oppressive regimes to do so, and become American citizens (e.g., Albert Einstein) So now all the world’s best and brightest scientists will move to China where they’ll be welcomed in open arms, enjoy living in a modern society with affordable electric cars, the world’s premier high speed train network, glimmering new subway systems, and ample affordable housing. They’ll work on cutting-edge research projects that receive ample funding and support while American scientists wrestle with a federal government torn apart by anti-intellectual strongmen. You ever see a Tesla robot demo like this? [this video] Are we tired of winning yet? It sounds like we are beyond tired of winning, we’d rather lose from here on out. Seems like Russia and the USA are hell-bent on destroying themselves fighting forever wars to allow China and the EU to take the reins as the beacons of global stability and strength.
@SequoiaHope May 2026 Cites it
on HN thread I've Covered Robots for Years. This One Is Different
Have you seen the mass produced humanoids from China? They’re incredibly capable (again, save for hands which is a huge mechanical and software problem) and cheap. [this video] [link]
Shows capable Chinese humanoid robots performing martial arts.
@somenameforme Feb 2026 Pushes back
on HN thread Martial arts robots dazzle at 2026 Spring Festival Gala [video]
Ahhh! When he said staffs I assumed he meant people, not staves! Yeah, that's 100% CG. Here [1] you can see where the kids take a stance where it was to be edited in, and if you pause at the exact moment - it looks pretty bad, with something like a lightsaber just popping in the kid's hand. Hmmm. Not sure what to make of this. I wish it was possible to see the raw unedited footage. It makes me question everything else. [1] - [this video]

Video list and Hacker News comment labels from HackerTube (prompted by @karpathy), released under ODC-By 1.0, built on the open-index/hacker-news archive. Hacker News data is provided by Y Combinator; comments remain the work of their authors. Video titles, channel names and thumbnails belong to their creators and are shown via YouTube. HackerTube Watch is an unofficial edition. Data export of 2026-10-31.

Keyboard shortcuts

/
Search
j k
Next / previous video
r
Surprise me
l
Like (video page)
w
Watch later (video page)
?
This help
Esc
Close