Robot Dance-Offs and Fight Clubs Hit San Francisco

At SoMa's Temple nightclub in San Francisco, a $40,000 G1 humanoid robot named Cricket, made by Chinese company Unitree, attempted to dance in a 'dance-off' against Oakland dance crew TURFinc. Cricket performed three preprogrammed dances, but stalled and needed an engineer's help. The event, organized by Ultimate Bots, also featured robot fights where amateur and skilled operators battled in an octagon. The dance demonstration showcased Studio, a new robo-choreography tool that generates moves from video uploads. Robot fight clubs have become a regular feature at techie San Francisco parties over the past year. Co-founders Vitaly and Xenia Bulatov of Ultimate Bots see fights as a step toward a competitive sport, while dance adds a cultural layer of human-machine collaboration. Attendees included tech workers and clubgoers; reactions were mixed, with some impressed by progress and others finding the dancing lacking.