About 500 robot athletes from 16 countries competed in Beijing as the United States and China race against each other to shape the future of AI.

China has invested heavily in robotics. The country is a leader in industrial robots per capita and has just hosted the first "World Humanoid Robot Games" in Beijing.

But even before this month, China has been turning to high-profile events to showcase its tech, including a robot half-marathon and dancing humanoid robots during its Lunar New Year’s Eve TV gala, watched by hundreds of millions of people, according to The New York Times.