The new trend in robotics is humanoid machines. Whether it’s Tesla’s Optimus or that Neo robot that can’t even close a dishwasher, the industry seems convinced the future is “robots that look like people.”

No one actually wants to buy these things, but they certainly get media attention!

Not to be outdone, a team in Russia recently debuted their own humanoid robot, Aidol. They unveiled it during an onstage performance in which the robot came out to music from Rocky, then fell flat on its face.

Yeah, not a great start.

While Aidol did eventually manage to walk later, the performance didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the project. That said, there *are* some cool things about it — the company says that it can be operated offline, that it’s produced primarily of domestically-sourced components and that it will have applications in both public spaces and industrial environments.

Of course, this will never actually happen — but it’s nice to think about!

Nothing unusual — just Russia’s much-hyped humanoid AI robot collapsing on stage during its debut presentation.

Apparently, it couldn’t handle Russian reality. pic.twitter.com/czFlclTYX5

— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 11, 2025