Human vs. Robot Combat Match Held in U.S. Despite Immediate Halt Order

The U.S. daily The New York Times (NYT) reported that the world's first "human versus robot" combat match was held on the 18th of last month local time in San Francisco, California, sparking controversy.

In the event hosted by startup Robot Entertainment Kombat (REK), various types of humanoid robots appeared, facing off against 167-cm-tall popular YouTuber Frankie Lapena.

Among them, one robot was named "T800," exactly after the robot from the movie "Terminator" designed to harm humans.

Footage shows Lapena swinging his arms to knock the robot down during the match, but the robot got back up as if unfazed and counterattacked by fiercely kicking Lapena.

After Lapena knocked out the first robot and it was carried away, the crowd cheered.

The robot continued its attack, pushing Lapena all the way against the wall of the arena, and Lapena reportedly injured his hand while hitting the robot.

The robot in question was controlled by a human player wearing virtual reality (VR) equipment.

However, amid recent warnings that artificial intelligence (AI) could destroy humanity, the sight of a Terminator-like robot directly attacking a human raised concerns.

The California State Athletic Commission issued an immediate halt order, stating that REK's holding of a combat sports match involving a human without approval constitutes a misdemeanor.

The commission regulates amateur and professional boxing, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, and more.

On the other hand, REK has maintained that there is no problem, pointing out loopholes in the legal framework.

Cix Liv, CEO of REK, argued via social media that "the law stipulates that a match is a competition between people," and therefore a match against a humanoid robot does not fall under regulated targets.

The match footage depicting the confrontation between a human and a robot has currently accumulated 590,000 views on YouTube.

Ken Goldberg, a professor at UC Berkeley, analyzed that people are enthusiastic about such match footage precisely because they hold fear and frustration toward robots.

He explained, "People want to see a human kick a robot's gearbox," while simultaneously noting, "In reality, once a robot is programmed to throw punches, it is difficult for (a human) to escape. That is terrifying."

(Photo: Screen capture from REK's YouTube channel, Yonhap News)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.