Chinese dance robots are set to take the stage at the "America's Got Talent" (AGT) finale. A 27-year-old performer from Sichuan, who has made it to the final round of the popular American show, describes dancing with robots as "a really magical feeling." Speaking with AFP from Pasadena, California, where the AGT studios are located, he shared that after months of training with the robots, they no longer feel like "cold, lifeless machines." Instead, he says he has developed a sense of "team spirit" with the robots, which were manufactured by the Chinese company Unitree. The artist and his robotic partners are preparing for the AGT final, scheduled for Tuesday. Dance robots have become increasingly popular in China, especially after a Unitree robot performed during the Lunar New Year gala, the country's most-watched television event. Since then, companies and event organizers across China have been eager to use robots to attract audiences with unique performances. Fang Zhenghua, an artistic director working with Wu Yufei and his robots on their AGT routines, describes training a humanoid robot as "creating a soul." Initially, he was "rather against" the use of AI or robots in dance, but his views have shifted as he collaborated with engineers who program these humanoids. Training robots for dance performances requires teamwork between human dancers and engineers, especially when solving issues in real-time during shows. Liu Zhiquan, head of marketing at BridgeDP—a company that specializes in motion capture for robotics—notes that "tweaking" is a crucial part of choreographing with robots. A 30-second dance sequence can take days or even weeks to perfect, and human dancers must be ready for this process. According to Wegers Wei, a choreographer from the Shanghai-based dance studio Limit Crew, he avoids designing movements that he knows will be difficult for the robots to perform, ensuring smoother and more effective rehearsals.