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.

Humanoid robots now have their own "Olympic Games." In quotes, naturally, as it's a competition not recognized by the Olympic organizing committee. Officially, it's the World Humanoid Robot

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.

Amid a lot of stumbles and scrums the human-like bots showcased some advanced abilities. And there could be a billion of them around by 2050.

Over 500 robots competed in soccer, boxing, and running. In many cases, gravity was the real winner. This week, China’s leading robotics minds gathered in Beijing for a hotly-anticipated, Olympics-style event dubbed the world’s first “ Humanoid Robot Games. ”

In a display that was part Olympic spectacle, part slapstick comedy, the iWorld Humanoid Robot Games have just finished, leaving us breathing a sigh of relief that we aren't going to be taken over by robot overlords just yet.