China Launches Three-on-Three Humanoid Robot Soccer League

OFFSIDES
China is betting big on humanoid robots — for sports. June saw the launch of the RoBoLeague in Beijing, where fully autonomous robots play three-on-three soccer matches with roughly the skill of kindergarteners. They can dribble, pass, fall and get back up again, and they improve over time. The bots are now reportedly coming up with their own game strategies with no help from their human coaches.
Source: Gizmodo

:(
It’s the end of an era: A Windows update promised this summer will bid adieu to the notorious Blue Screen of Death. The ubiquitous indicator of a system crash will be replaced by a perhaps more ominous Black Screen of Death, with no cute frowny face to soften the blow. Microsoft says part of the move is to make it clearer to IT admins and users what actually caused the issue.
Source: Engadget

70%
Research from identity and access management firm Okta found that a majority of those surveyed — 70 percent — prefer interacting with a human customer service agent over AI; just 16 percent prefer AI agents to humans. Baby boomers were the group overwhelmingly opposed to talking to AI, while Gen Z was the most receptive to the idea, although even they still preferred human assistance.
Source: TechRadar

1.1 MILLION
For all efforts made in the name of online security, while also providing a good user experience, a report from the FIDO Alliance, an industry group that aims to reduce reliance on passwords, found that 53 percent of customers saw increased online scams and suspicious messages last year. The Federal Trade Commission has similarly unpromising numbers: The agency received more than 1.1 million reports of identity theft in 2024.
Source: VentureBeat

This story originally appeared in the Summer 2025 issue of Government Technology. Click here to view the full digital edition online.