Awkward debut: XPeng’s Iron robot falls on stage

Humanoid robots are still a long way from mass production, but recent advances show how far the technology has come. Unitree’s G1, for instance, recently stamped an impressively detailed Olympic logo into fresh snow. Boston Dynamics’ Atlas is even more agile, pulling off backflips and cartwheels. Still, as recent clips show, not everything goes according to plan.

Iron’s debut didn’t exactly go smoothly – quite literally, as the humanoid robot from Chinese carmaker XPeng Motors took a fall on stage. In the video, the robot, known for its human-like proportions, walks toward the stage with slightly rigid but stable movements. Once in place, it raises one hand – then suddenly tips over. The cause of the fall remains unclear. The clip was shared on X by accounts such as The Humanoid Hub.

According to a report by Sina News (in Chinese), XPeng CEO He Xiaopeng responded a day later on the Chinese platform Weibo, calling the fall a natural part of the development process. "It reminds me of how all children learn to walk: they fall, get back up, and soon they’re running – and keep running," he said. The video also surfaced on Reddit, where the community reacted with humor. Another entertaining robot fail comes from Unitree’s G1, which accidentally kicked its trainer in a particularly unfortunate spot.