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CNN
8 minutes ago
- CNN
Robots race, play football, crash and collapse at China's ‘robot Olympics'
China kicked off the three-day long World Humanoid Robot Games on Friday, looking to showcase its advances in artificial intelligence and robotics with 280 teams from 16 countries. Robots competed in sports such as track and field, and table tennis, as well as tackled robot-specific challenges from sorting medicines and handling materials to cleaning services. Teams came from countries including the United States, Germany and Brazil, with 192 representing universities and 88 from private enterprises such as China's Unitree and Fourier Intelligence. Competing teams used robots from Chinese manufacturers such as Booster Robotics. 'We come here to play and to win. But we are also interested in research,' said Max Polter, a member of HTWK Robots football team from Germany, affiliated with Leipzig University of Applied Sciences. 'You can test a lot of interesting new and exciting approaches in this contest. If we try something and it doesn't work, we lose the game. That's sad but it is better than investing a lot of money into a product which failed.' At the robot games in Beijing, which charged 128 to 580 yuan ($17.83-$80.77) for tickets, humanoids crashed into each other and toppled over repeatedly during football matches, while others collapsed mid-sprint during running events. During one football match, four robots crashed into each other and fell in a tangled heap. In the 1500-meter running event, one robot suddenly collapsed while running at full speed, drawing gasps and cheers from spectators. Despite frequent tumbles requiring human assistance to help robots stand, many managed to right themselves independently, earning applause from audiences. Organizers said the games provide valuable data collection opportunities for developing robots for practical applications such as factory work. Football matches help train robots' coordination abilities, which could prove useful for assembly line operations requiring collaboration between multiple units, commentators said. China is investing billions of dollars in humanoids and robotics as the country grapples with an aging population and growing competition with the U.S. over advanced technologies. It has staged a series of high-profile robotics events in recent months, including what it called the world's first humanoid robot marathon in Beijing, a robot conference and the opening of retail stores dedicated to humanoid robots. Morgan Stanley analysts in a report last week noted a surge in attendance to a recent robot conference from the general public compared to previous years, saying this showed 'how China, not just top government officials, has embraced the concept of embodied intelligence.'
Forbes
38 minutes ago
- Forbes
Why La Liga May Come To Regret Playing Games In The United States
La Liga president Javier Tebas is getting closer than ever to his long-held wish of staging a regular season match on American soil after the Royal Spanish Football Federation approved his league's most recent proposal this week. There are still several hurdles to clear before the fixture between Villareal and FC Barcelon – currently scheduled for Dec. 21 at Villareal's Estadio Ceramica – is officially moved to Miami Gardens, Florida. And as the soccer world frets over whether the relocation will ultimately get the go-ahead, and whether it represents a net positive or negative for the sport around the world, there's one question that is curiously absent: What evidence does Tebas have that playing Stateside will do La Liga more good than harm? While there is imbalance in wealth, power and competitive history in nearly every elite European soccer league, the imbalance in La Liga is more severe than most. And when you look closely at the implications of taking matches to the U.S, it's pretty clear that doing so will only increase the leverage of La Liga's two elite clubs, Real Madrid and FC Barcelona, at the league's expense. Real Madrid, FC Barcelona and Everyone Else Real Madrid and Barcelona are No. 1 and No. 3 in Forbes' list of top 30 most-valuable soccer clubs for 2025. Only one other La Liga club makes the cut, Atletico Madrid at No. 13. Those three top 30 clubs are fewer than England's Premier League, Italy's Serie A and even the United States' own MLS. On the field, Real Madrid (36) and Barcelona (28) have won 64 of the 94 contested Spanish league championships, or 68% all time. And historically, one of La Liga's biggest impediments to keeping pace with the Premier League in particular has been a failure to combat that imbalance more aggressively. While the creation of the Premier League as a business entity in the early 1990s widened the gap between England's first and second tiers, the even distribution of TV revenue among clubs undeniably lifted the profile of all the clubs who have managed to play the majority of their seasons in the EPL since. Take Chelsea and Manchester City, for example. All but one of Chelsea's six league titles have come in the Premier League era, as have all but two of City's 10 league-winning campaigns. Off the field, they've become nearly as recognizable globally as more historic giants like Manchester United, Liverpool and Arsenal, and other teams in the EPL with less on-field success have also succeeded at growing considerable global followings. Meanwhile, La Liga remains captive to its two dominant clubs even as it tries to take baby steps toward a more equitable dynamic. Until a decade ago, every La Liga club negotiated its own TV agreement, leading to enormous revenue disparities. And even now that the league sells its rights collectively, it still funnels the most revenue to its biggest teams as a concession. Yet Tebas' desire to play games on American soil is exactly the kind of endeavor that makes two-club domination harder to escape. Giving Away Leverage La Liga isn't as popular on U.S. TV as the Premier League, Liga MX, the Champions League or even MLS. And the only way La Liga games are commercially viable at the box office in the U.S. is if Real Madrid or Barcelona are playing. There simply aren't significant fanbases of other La Liga teams in North America – even among Spanish speaking fans – like there are of lesser-accomplished English teams like Crystal Palace, Fulham, Aston Villa, Everton, Newcastle and so on. And if the idea of playing games on U.S. soil becomes a bigger part of La Liga's strategy, you can bet Barca and Real Madrid will demand far greater concessions than they currently receive. Already, media reports suggest it's Barcelona who will earn the majority of the revenue from a match in the U.S. that was a scheduled away fixture, estimated between $5.8 and $7 million. Then there's the likelihood La Liga's move becomes a watershed event, making it easier for other leagues to justify taking their games global. If the Premier League or Liga MX – the leagues with the most robust U.S. fan presence – follow such an example, they'll probably have more success than La Liga in the endeavor. The end result could be the gap between the EPL and La Liga actually widening. What the FIFA Club World Cup should've made clear is that American fans will no longer attend major soccer events simply out of curiosity. They have more choices than ever on TV, and what they want to see in person will mirror their viewing habits. In trying to stage games on American soil, La Liga is trying to run before it can walk. If it doesn't solve its competitive and financial balance problems first, the Land of Opportunity is likely to become its Land of Disappointment.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
What is a 'show cause' penalty in the Michigan football punishment?
Jim Harbaugh's NCAA coaching career is pretty much over -- at least until 2038. That's how long he'll be under show-cause penalties thanks to NCAA investigations into improprieties along the Michigan Wolverines' sideline. Harbaugh spent nine season rebuilding his alma mater into a powerhouse. He left to return to the NFL after winning a national championship in 2023 -- right as a handful of scandals began crash around his program. Harbaugh was already under a four-year NCAA show-cause order and was suspended from the game for a full year after a previous investigation showed he had improper contact with recruits in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. A 10-year sentence handed down Friday will run consecutively with that penalty. When his first show-cause order runs out Aug. 7, 2028, his new countdown clock kicks in. What is an NCAA show-cause penalty? A show-cause penalty is used by the NCAA in cases involving serious rule violations and effectively pin a coach to his or her infractions for a certain amount of time. These orders include specific punishments that follow a coach across any job he or she may be interested in taking in the future. In Harbaugh's case, the NCAA ruling "restrict[s] him from all athletically related activities during the show-cause period." That effectively bans him from coaching in the college ranks for the next 13 years. It doesn't necessarily mean teams can't hire him, but he'll be beholden to the NCAA restrictions throughout his tenure. An interested team could plead its case to why a coach should be freed from his sanctions to take a new job -- showing cause as to why this new program shouldn't be penalized for hiring someone who has a checkered past. They'd have to lay out their argument to an NCAA panel and report back to that panel every six months to update it on the coach in question's progress. The NCAA cannot fire coaches. They can make them incredibly difficult to employ and make almost every other candidate in a job search more appealing. That's the show-cause penalty in a nutshell. This article originally appeared on For The Win: What is a 'show cause' penalty in the Michigan football punishment?
