Russia’s first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered humanoid robot made its debut this week at a tech event in Moscow—but fell face-first on the stage, creating an awkward scene.
This AI humanoid robot, named Aldol, was developed by the Russian robotics company Idol. According to the development team, Aldol is built mostly using domestically-produced Russian components, is capable of conversation and emotion recognition, and can work offline. All voice processing is done independently on the device.
On the 10th, Aldol took the stage as the theme song from the movie "Rocky" played. After waving to the audience, it suddenly lost its balance and fell to the floor, with some parts scattering across the stage.
Staff members covered Aldol, which continued twitching and moving erratically on the ground, with a black cloth and quickly carried it off the stage. However, Aldol’s fall was captured by journalists on site and widely shared online.
Idol attributed Aldol’s fall to a calibration issue and emphasized that Aldol is still in the testing stage.
The event was initially intended to showcase Russia’s progress in AI and robotics, but after Aldol’s fall, critics on Russian social media and tech forums focused on the instability of the robot and the decision to "publicly release an unfinished prototype."
Many people questioned whether Russia’s robotics industry is ready for international competition.
Idol refuted the criticisms, stating that Aldol is equipped with a 48-volt battery, can operate continuously for six hours, and that 77% of its components are domestically produced in Russia. The company also plans to increase the localization rate to 93% in the future and has equipped Aldol with 19 servo motors.