The best and most ridiculous robots of 2025 in pictures

What’s Happening

Here’s the thing: Some of the worlds most advanced robots showed off their skills at tech shows and sporting events, doing everything from cooking shrimp to running half marathons Technology The best and most ridiculous robots of 2025 in pictures Some of the world’s most advanced robots showed off their skills at tech shows and sporting events, doing everything from cooking shrimp to running half marathons By Matthew Sparkes 29 December 2025 Facebook / Meta Twitter / X icon Linkedin Reddit Email Robbyants R1 cooks up a storm Artur Widak/NurPhoto via This striking humanoid robot is the R1 from Robbyant, a company owned giant Ant Group.

The allure of humanoid robots is their versatility – you can imagine them doing any job that a human can, simply because they have the same appendages. But unlike wheeled robots, they have to deal with balancing on two legs, which is no mean feat. (plot twist fr)

The R1 strikes a balance, with a stable wheeled base and a humanoid form from the waist up.

The Details

The critical computer systems still relying on decades-old code The R1 certainly made an wild entrance at the IFA 2025 tech show in Berlin, where it demonstrated its skills in the kitchen, cooking up shrimp – albeit at a relaxed pace. Its makers say it could be put to work as a carer, nurse or tour guide.

A Tiangong robot takes a tumble Zhang Xiangyi/China News Service/VCG via This bipedal robot, named Tiangong, is more ambitious than the R1 – but as this image shows, that hasnt necessarily paid off. The machine, built Local Co-built Embodied AI Robotics Innovation Center, was competing in a 100-metre race at the World Humanoid Robot Games in Beijing in August when it tripped and fell.

Why This Matters

Free to The Daily The latest on what’s new in science and why it matters each day. To Other events at the games included football and dance, and the Tiangong was the only robot to suffer an injury: another dropped out of the 1500-metre event because its head came off . Robot jockeys race on camels KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via The Qatari government was forced to ban the practice of using child jockeys in camel races in 2005 after pressure from campaigners, so the fandom turned to robots instead.

The scientific community tends to find developments like this significant.

The Bottom Line

Robot jockeys race on camels KARIM JAAFAR/AFP via The Qatari government was forced to ban the practice of using child jockeys in camel races in 2005 after pressure from campaigners, so the fandom turned to robots instead.

We want to hear your thoughts on this.