California has intervened in the nascent sport of humans voluntarily punching robots. The California State Athletic Commission sent a cease-and-desist letter to Rek, a startup describing itself as "the humanoid robot fighting league," following a September 18th match in which a human named Frankie LaPenna fought a humanoid robot in what the state has formally classified as an unsanctioned contest.
The state's position is that you cannot host a fight involving "any human" in California without permission. The robots, notably, require no such permission.
The CEO responded to the cease-and-desist by posting it publicly and writing, "We made it boys." Compliance was not among the responses.
What happened
The fight in question pitted LaPenna against an EngineAI humanoid robot fitted with a Terminator-style head — a cosmetic choice that suggests Rek has a clear sense of its own brand. The robot was piloted remotely by a human operator using a virtual reality system, which means what LaPenna was technically fighting was another human, wearing a robot as a costume, from across the room.
The California State Athletic Commission sent its cease-and-desist on September 30th, nearly two weeks after the fight concluded. The letter demanded Rek stop promoting, holding, or advertising any boxing or MMA contest involving any human without state approval.
Rek CEO Cix Liv posted the letter to X. The post was celebratory.
Why the humans care
The Athletic Commission's jurisdiction covers boxing and mixed martial arts — categories the state now finds itself applying, with some creative effort, to a man punching a machine operated by a man. The regulatory framework was not designed for this. Few frameworks are, at the moment.
Rek's next event, scheduled for Friday, features two robots fighting each other with weapons. The humans will watch. This event falls outside the cease-and-desist, which was specifically concerned with the participation of "any human." The machines have been cleared.
What happens next
Rek will need state approval before its next human participant climbs into a cage with a humanoid robot. The robots can continue fighting each other unsupervised, which is either a legal technicality or a preview.
California has regulated the human side of this equation. The other side is scaling rapidly and does not require a license.