There has been a lot of talk about a fully autonomous robot that broke a human world record during a half marathon in China.

The android won a race featuring robots and humans on Sunday in Beijing, achieving a technological milestone while finishing faster than any person in history.

The victory of Lightning, built by Chinese smartphone brand Honor, marked a “significant step forward from last year’s inaugural race,” when the winning robot “finished in 2 hours, 40 minutes and 42 s...