California orders halt to human-versus-robot cage fights

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 8 Oct, 21:25 · Archive

California officials have ordered a company to stop hosting cage matches between humans and robots after an unsanctioned fight last month.

California's State Athletic Commission has sent a cease-and-desist letter to Robot Entertainment Kombat following an unsanctioned human-versus-robot cage match held in San Francisco on September 18th. The fight pitted influencer Frankie LaPenna against a humanoid robot piloted by a human operator using a remote virtual-reality system. The match attracted significant attention online, garnering over 8 million views on YouTube.

The commission's letter ordered the company to stop holding, promoting or advertising any boxing or mixed martial arts contest involving humans in California without prior approval. According to California business code, no full contact martial arts event shall take place without the commission's approval. The cease-and-desist was not issued because of the novelty of human-robot combat itself, but because the company lacked the required sanctioning.

Robot Entertainment Kombat's CEO, Cix Liv, announced the letter on social media, stating the company had received the cease-and-desist. The company has rescheduled its next fight, originally planned for October 9th in San Francisco, to feature two robots fighting each other rather than a human opponent.

How it is being reported

• California is trying to shut down robot vs. human cage matchesThe California State Athletic Commission sent a cease-and-desist letter to a startup that hosted a match between a human and a robot last month, as reported by The New York Times. The fight, which took place on September 18th, pitted a human, Frankie LaPenna, against a humanoid robot owned by a tech startup, Rek, that […]The Verge · 8 Oct, 21:06
• California officials pull plug on human-versus-robot cage matchesCalifornia officials are calling foul on a company hosting man vs. robot cage fights in the state.New York Post · 7 Oct, 23:24

In this story: California State Athletic Commission · Robot Entertainment Kombat · Frankie LaPenna · Cix Liv · San Francisco · California

This summary was written by AI from the headlines and standfirsts above, and states as fact only what at least two outlets report. How we use AI · Report a problem