KUALA LUMPUR, Aug. 19 -- The Malaysia Marathon will have a couple of unusual participants this year who do not need running shoes, energy gels or, presumably, a motivational playlist.

Honor is bringing two of its humanoid robots, the A1 and D1, to Malaysia for their first public appearance outside China, with the machines scheduled to take part in the Malaysia Marathon 2026 on August 30 before joining the National Day parade in Putrajaya a day later.

It is an unusually public outing for technology more commonly associated with laboratories and carefully staged demonstrations. Instead, Honor is putting its machines into the considerably messier world of road races, crowds and national celebrations.

The more ambitious assignment goes to ...