A humanoid robot powered by artificial intelligence made its public debut at a technology event in Moscow — but its first appearance didn’t go as planned.
Russian robotics startup AIDOL presented the machine, which shares the same name, during a showcase on Tuesday, Nov. 11, reported by major outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, and the Associated Press.
The company promotes AIDOL as “the first Russian anthropomorphic robot with AI,” designed to perform handling tasks and interact with humans. Standing around 6 feet tall and weighing 209 pounds, the robot is said to walk at speeds up to 3.7 mph, express basic emotions, and operate autonomously for as long as six hours.
During the unveiling, video showed the robot emerging onstage accompanied by two assistants while the iconic Rocky theme played. After taking a few cautious steps and lifting its arm to wave to the crowd, the robot suddenly lost balance, fell forward, and had to be removed from the stage.
Organizers told reporters that calibration and lighting issues were to blame for the mishap. Reactions online have ranged from amused to uneasy as footage of the fall circulates widely.
AIDOL responded to inquiries by noting they are “a small independent team of 14 people” who have spent years developing the robot using only their own funding. They emphasized that the project is not backed by the government or large corporations.
“Despite our size, we believe our work is currently among the most advanced in Russia in this area and comparable to international efforts,” the team wrote, adding that the strong global response to one simple fall surprised them.
From their perspective, incidents like this are simply part of growing new technology: “What is truly frightening is not to fall, but not to get back up.”
