A humanoid robot aptly named Lightning made history on the streets of Beijing over the weekend, beating the human half-marathon world record by several minutes.

The android won a half-marathon for robots (and humans) on Sunday in Beijing, achieving a technological milestone while finishing faster than any person in history.

The winner from Honor, a Chinese smartphone maker, completed the 21.1-kilometer (13.1-mile) race in 50 minutes, 26 seconds, according to a WeChat post by the Beijing Economic-Technological Development...