Frankie LaPenna fought three robots in San Francisco; REK won't say who beat him
A viral clip showed the American influencer getting kicked by a EngineAI T800 at REK's human-versus-robot event on 18 September, but no official result was released for any bout.
Frankie LaPenna, an American influencer with millions of followers, fought three robots at REK's human-versus-robot event in San Francisco on 18 September. The most widely shared clip shows him being kicked by a modified EngineAI T800 with a skull-head replacement, which stands 1.82 meters tall and weighs around 90 kilograms.
LaPenna fought a Unitree G1 and a third robot described as resembling a Unitree H2, in addition to the T800. He said his hand was fractured during the event. In the T800 bout, both fighters fell; in the second bout, the robot knocked LaPenna down after he attempted a takedown. REK did not name a winner for any bout.
REK confirmed that the robots are piloted using hybrid control—a combination of VR headsets or game controllers and AI assistance for balance and movement execution—rather than fully autonomous or fully remote-controlled. The company said this approach maximizes entertainment value. Nearly 500 people emailed REK asking to fight robots after the event.
Source finance.sina.com.cn/roll/2026-10-12/doc-inivafqi7259756.shtml
Written automatically from that source and not reviewed by an editor before publication. Corrections are welcome.