The Pulse

California Orders REK to Stop Human–Robot Cage Fights

The California State Athletic Commission told REK to stop holding or promoting boxing and mixed martial arts events involving people without agency approval. CEO Cix Liv posted the notice on September 30, after a September 18 human-versus-r

AI.info Team · Written with AI · 2026-10-09

“We made it boys. California sent us a Cease and Desist for "UNSANCTIONED HUMAN VERSUS HUMANOID ROBOT CAGE FIGHT"”

Cix Liv, CEO of REK, in a post on X

Liv posted that message on September 30 alongside a photo of a cease-and-desist letter from the California State Athletic Commission, dated September 23 and signed by Andy Foster, the commission’s executive officer. The commission has not published the letter or a press release about it.

The notice followed a September 18 San Francisco fight staged by REK, the startup that calls itself a humanoid robot fighting league. The commission told the company to stop holding, promoting or advertising boxing or mixed martial arts events involving any human in California without its approval.

The letter puts a state regulator’s rules for combat sports against a new kind of staged bout: a human in the cage facing humanoid machines. At the September event the influencer Frankie LaPenna faced three robots, according to Tom’s Hardware and The Daily Wire. The machines were remote-controlled; the one in the widely shared clip was piloted by a person using a virtual-reality system. The bout therefore involved both a human participant in the cage and human operators outside it.

The commission’s notice targets human-involving contests

The commission’s demand is broad in its wording: it covers any boxing or mixed martial arts contest, match or exhibition involving a human in California, unless the agency approves it. The notice described the REK event as “unsanctioned.” The agency’s action is a cease-and-desist, not a report of a court ruling or a permanent ban on every kind of robot fight.

The notice also cites California Business and Professions Code sections 18870 and 18878. It says those sections make it a misdemeanor for a person or promoter who is required to be licensed to hold, aid or abet, or attempt to hold, aid or abet the holding of, any contest, match or exhibition without first obtaining a license or permit, or to otherwise violate the State Athletic Commission Act. The letter states a warning about potential violations; it does not say a criminal case has been filed.

That distinction matters for REK’s events. The company’s next event, a robot-versus-robot “Deathmatch” it billed as the world’s first humanoid weapon fight, was scheduled for October 9 in San Francisco. The notice focuses on contests involving a human; it does not establish that the commission has ordered REK to stop robot-versus-robot events.

A remotely piloted machine, not an autonomous opponent

The fight was presented as human versus robot, but the robots did not make their own combat decisions: they were remote-controlled, and the one in the widely shared clip was piloted through a virtual-reality system. Interesting Engineering identified the robot in the fight footage as an EngineAI T800 humanoid; it had been fitted with a Terminator-like head. That setup makes the bout less a test of autonomous AI than a physical contest involving a person operating a humanoid machine.

California’s notice turns on the presence of a human in the event, rather than whether the opponent is a person or a robot. REK’s posted reaction treats the letter as a milestone; the regulator’s position, as set out in the notice, is that human-involving events need approval. The clearest boundary in the dispute is the one the commission set out: its demand covers contests involving a human, while the robot-only match remains a separate category.