REK’s ‘Terminator’-styled T800 robot, piloted remotely by a human, inside the cage during the September 18 event
Then came two modified EngineAI T800s, which REK says stand about 6 feet tall, kick with up to 850 pounds of force and wear a mechanical skull with glowing red eyes. It has staged 14 events across nine cities, including private shows at the OpenAI and xAI offices, and says more than 20,000 fights have been played on its simulator across 65 countries.
The California State Athletic Commission sent the cease-and-desist letter on September 30 to REK, short for Robot Entertainment Kombat, over its unsanctioned “Human vs Robot” event on September 18. His last opponent, a quicker robot REK calls “Predator”, beat him by getting up every time he dropped it. Liv says there are no plans to repeat the human fight.
Chief executive Cix Liv did not sound worried. He posted the letter on X the same day with a short caption: “We made it, boys. One of them landed a blow that left LaPenna sprawled on the far side of the cage, motorcycle-style protective gear and all. He got back up and shoved the robot to the floor to win. LaPenna left with an injured hand from punching a metal frame, after signing a waiver that cleared REK if he died. REK calls itself a humanoid robot fighting league.