California athletic commission orders halt to human-vs-robot cage fights
State regulators allege Rek’s robot combat events violated California’s sanctioning rules and say the startup must cease hosting fights involving humans without approval.
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- California’s State Athletic Commission issued a cease-and-desist to Rek, a startup staging robot vs. human cage matches, after a September 18 event in San Francisco.
- The commission says Rek must stop hosting any human-involving combat events in California without its approval.
- Rek’s next event on October 10 will feature two robots fighting each other, not humans.
California’s State Athletic Commission sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rek, a startup that staged a human versus humanoid robot fight on September 18 in San Francisco, instructing the company to halt any events involving humans in California without prior approval.
The letter, dated September 30, called the September 18 match “unsanctioned” and demanded that Rek’s CEO Cix Liv and the company stop “holding, promoting or advertising any boxing or mixed martial arts contest match, or exhibition, involving any human” in the state.
Rek describes itself as “the humanoid robot fighting league” and used a humanoid robot reportedly sourced from EngineAI, modified with a Terminator-like head, piloted via a remote virtual-reality system during the human-robot match.
Rek’s next scheduled event is set for October 10 and will feature two robots fighting each other, not humans, according to the company.
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