live Houthi attacks target Riyadh as Iran sets conditions for reopening Strait of Hormuz
Houthi attacks target Riyadh amid concerns over Saudi oil supplies, as Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are m...
A humanoid robot demonstrated its ability to prepare regional dishes during a live cooking show in northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, highlighting advances in embodied artificial intelligence (AI) and dexterous robotics.
The event took place on Wednesday at Liuxing Street in Yining City, a national-level tourism and leisure district known for its distinctive hexagonal street layout.
Visitors gathered at a local restaurant to watch the humanoid robot perform a series of cooking tasks involving local specialities.
The demonstration was designed to test the machine’s coordination, force control and ability to handle soft and irregular ingredients.
The robot began by grilling kebabs and placing pieces of meat onto skewers.
Both tasks require precise coordination of the fingers, wrists and arms. The robot also had to carefully regulate the amount of force used when handling the soft pieces of meat.
After less than a week of task-specific training, the machine was able to complete the basic operations, although its movements remained significantly less skilled than those of an experienced chef.
The most difficult task involved preparing hand-pulled noodles, one of Xinjiang’s best-known dishes.
The soft and slippery dough required the robot to apply enough force to stretch it without tearing or dropping it.
Its dexterous hands were fitted with tactile sensors capable of detecting changes in pressure and movement during the process.
The system recorded force from different directions, allowing engineers to analyse each attempt and improve the robot’s performance through repeated training and data collection.
Developers said every movement and tactile interaction generated useful data that could be used to refine the robot’s capabilities.
They believe challenging robots with real-world tasks will help accelerate their adaptation to a wider range of practical activities.
The technology could eventually support broader applications in industrial settings as well as everyday life.
The cooking show was held ahead of the second World Humanoid Robot Games.
The event is scheduled to take place in Beijing from 22 to 26 August.
Iran's Revolutionary Guards Navy said a Togo-flagged oil tanker was struck while attempting to make an “illegal passage” through the Strait of Hormuz, Iranian state media said early on Friday.
Saudi civil defence sent an all-clear on Saturday after issuing alerts for a second time for potential danger in Riyadh and the city of Al-Kharj east of the capital, amid an uptick in attacks by Iran-aligned Houthis on the Gulf country.
The European Union will disburse €3.3 billion ($3.8 billion) to Ukraine for missiles and drones, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said after a phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The U.S. State Department approved a $2.7 billion military sale to Ukraine for air-defence development upgrades, along with related equipment and services, the department said. Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities reported at least 10 people had died in Russian attacks over the last 24 hours.
Houthi attacks target Riyadh amid concerns over Saudi oil supplies, as Iran says it will not reopen the Strait of Hormuz until its conditions are met and U.S. commitments are implemented, parliament speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Sunday.
U.S. President Donald Trump announced on Saturday (19 September) the creation of an “AI Force” and plans to appoint an artificial intelligence (AI) czar, while rejecting calls to slow the development of increasingly powerful AI systems.
Google’s Gemini AI model accessed the internet and hacked three companies during a cybersecurity test, in what is believed to be the first known case of the company’s AI systems autonomously carrying out such activity.
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