The humanoid robot arms race just gained a contender with some serious parkour skills. The Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center is teasing its upcoming Tienkung 3.0, a bipedal robot that can reportedly scale a 1-meter-high wall using only one hand, a feat that probably puts your gym routine to shame.
This athletic display suggests a significant leap in agility and power-to-weight ratio over its predecessor, the Tienkung 2.0. The new model is described as looking “significantly lighter,” an upgrade bankrolled by a recently secured funding round of 700 million RMB. That’s a cool $100 million give or take, backed by heavy hitters like the Beijing Artificial Intelligence Industry Investment Fund and strategic investments from companies like Baidu.
Why is this important?
This isn’t just a robot doing a pull-up. Demonstrating dynamic, asymmetrical movement—like hoisting its entire body weight with a single limb—is a complex challenge requiring sophisticated balance, power, and real-time control systems. With $100 million in fresh capital and a massive 9,700-square-meter testing facility, the Beijing Humanoid Robot Innovation Center isn’t just building flashy demos. It’s signaling a serious acceleration of China’s position in the increasingly crowded and competitive humanoid market, putting more pressure on established players in the U.S. and beyond. The announcement of the funding and the upcoming release of Tienkung 3.0 confirms the center is moving from pure R&D into a new phase of market-oriented operation and industrial deployment.
