Human boxer fights EngineAI T800 in REK San Francisco octagon

REK released video on September 21 showing boxer Frankie LaPenna, wearing gloves and protective gear, enter an octagon with a 1.83-meter-tall EngineAI T800 humanoid robot. The two made contact, the robot maintained its stance and advanced, and LaPenna fell. REK called it the first public attempt at human-versus-terminator robot combat and said more footage would be released.

The T800 was not fully autonomous. A human operator controlled it in real time from the octagon edge using a VR headset and motion controllers, while the robot's body managed its own balance and posture correction. So operationally, a human was fighting another human through the robot.

REK previously focused on robot-versus-robot remote combat and held its REK 2 event using T800s in August. Putting a human in the cage showcased the machine's size and impact. Observers could directly compare human and six-foot metal robot proportions for the first time. No official complete results or injury report was given. The roughly 45-second clip that circulated looked more like a controlled display than a rule-bound tournament, but it converted the concept of human-and-humanoid physical opposition into public video.