Inside the world of robot fight clubs

[00:00:00]Welcome to the world of robot fighting.

[00:00:03]No, this is not a video game. This is 2026. This is a real robotic throwdown in this like cyberpunk underground battlebots fight club subculture that is probably headed our way. Watch this.

[00:00:16]This is This is the craziest part. But did you see that? That's a He kicked his head off and he's still fighting. This one right here, the one that the head's flopping around. Uh if you want to see it in slow motion, I know because you asked so nicely. Here it is. Uh, what?

[00:00:31]And then and then wait, that's that wasn't the head part, but did you see that? That was very weird. This whole thing is absolutely wild. Uh, robot fight nights have been a thing here in the United States, too. In San Francisco, you got these bots with the little bit better hair duking it out.

[00:00:49]There's techno. There's instant ramen bars. It is It is a very, very wild scene. Let's bring in somebody who's been following all this very, very closely. the humanoid robotics analyst Aaron Chen. Aaron, great to see you.

[00:01:01]Thank you so much for being with us. We know that this is not um an AI video, even though it does look very much like an AI video. And when I first saw it, I was like, "Oh, yeah, this is just an AI generated." But AI, the question of AI, are they using AI to control these or these just remote controlled?

[00:01:20]>> Yeah, first of all, thank you so much for having me. And in terms of the fights, um, the way that the robot balance itself and the way that they get up almost instantly like you see in the video, they're fully autonomous and definitely there's AI involved and u in terms of the higher decision making for example when the robots attacked uh what kind of move it makes like one two right it is it is still mostly remote controlled at this stage.

[00:01:47]>> Okay, got it. Because yeah, I I just see like the video gamer in me is like I would just be mashing and bashing all of the buttons and yet you know the balance I like I can't get over the balance with the head just hanging on there. This seems like a proving ground where we can really see how fast this whole tech is evolving. No, >> definitely. Yeah. If you look at back in robots like one or two years ago, they can barely walk very well. But thanks for the machine learning or the different algorithm that are developing the robots can not only just maintain balance but they can run they can parkour they can do all kind of dynamic and powerful movements and we're only seeing these kind of developments growing exponentially not linear way. I >> I don't know why I'm so like drawn to this and so captivated by this. Uh, but it does seem like it's one of those things where it's like all fun and games until we have to I don't know fight one of these in real life. Like how do you see the future of robots on the battlefield?

[00:02:50]>> Yeah, I understand it's kind of um scary while also entertaining at the same time to watch them fight. But first thing like if you look back for cars, right?

[00:03:00]Cars were made for our transportation.

[00:03:04]But even still today we have Formula One where people watch these kind of tournaments. Uh they're used for two reasons. Number one, they are a great way to testing the performance of the vehicles. Uh pushing the limits such as the torque, the maximum speed, the durability and everything. And number two, it is just entertaining to watch them. So same thing with robotics. We know that robots, they are going to our households. They will do our housework.

[00:03:31]They're going to warehouses, industries, everywhere. But why not have them, you know, in the back battleground in a safe environment, watch them fight? That would be a little bit fun for us, too, right?

[00:03:41]>> I I Yeah, I mean, I agree with you, and I hate to agree with you because [clears throat] I don't know. I'm conflicted about, you know, I want to watch roundhouse kicks by robots all day long. And yet, I guess it does serve a purpose. It serves a greater good of realizing yes these things can be useful but also dangerous.

[00:04:03]>> Yeah. Um I mean I believe there will be a lot of safety protocols being applied while the industry is still developing at this stage. Of course you can see it's inside a cage and it's within a safe environment. Um but um in the I believe when robots are really getting to everyone's households, there will be more uh safety protocols or um regulations involved to make sure that they are be used to serve us. They're doing the 3Ds, right? The dangerous work for us, the Dow work, and uh also the dirty work such as cleaning the toilet.

[00:04:40]So of course, we have to make sure they're safe.

[00:04:43]>> Yeah, let's hope so. And again, if I was a kid growing up, I would definitely be one of those kids probably trying to challenge my robot to fight and getting my butt kicked. So, Aaron Chin, this whole thing is fascinating. We hope you uh join us again because uh it's going to be a lot more to talk about. Thank you, Erin. We thank you for watching and remember, stay updated on breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or watch live on our YouTube channel.