A humanoid robot at a Chinese festival, (February 21, 2025), malfunctioned, charging at a crowd and sparking fresh concerns about AI safety. While organizers dismissed it as a "robotic failure," the incident is part of a growing trend of AI malfunctions, from factory mishaps to drones attacking operators.

Humanoids are general-purpose, bipedal robots modeled after the human form factor and designed to work alongside humans to augment productivity. They're capable of learning and performing a variety of tasks, such as grasping an object, moving a container, loading or unloading boxes, and more.