Humanoid robots have successfully performed surgery in a hospital operating theatre for the first time, remotely controlled by human surgeons thousands of miles away.
The breakthrough, reported by the BBC's Tech Life programme, marks a leap in robotic surgery and raises the prospect of expert surgeons operating on patients anywhere in the world without travelling.
“Humanoid robots remotely controlled by surgeons perform surgery in an operating theatre for the first time.”
Two human-shaped robots — standing and holding equipment — carried out the procedure in an operating theatre at the University of California San Diego. The surgeons who controlled them were not in the room but directed every movement from a remote location, according to the programme.
“An expert involved in the trial spoke to Tech Life about the achievement,” the programme said, though the expert’s identity was not disclosed. The episode, presented by Shiona McCallum and produced by Tom Quinn, was broadcast on 14 July 2026.
The development is part of a broader episode that also features the inventor of the infinite scroll discussing his latest thoughts on social media, and a segment on a carbon-capture solution to cut greenhouse gases emitted by cargo ships.
But the surgical robot story dominated the broadcast. The programme’s description noted that the robots were “human-shaped” and that they “perform surgery” while holding equipment. The exact nature of the operation — what procedure was carried out and on what kind of patient — was not detailed.
The trial suggests a future where a specialist in London could operate on a patient in a remote Scottish island hospital, or a surgeon in a conflict zone could provide life-saving care from a safe distance, without the limitations of human travel.
For now, the robots have proven they can work as precise extensions of a surgeon’s hands. The question is how long before remote-controlled humanoid surgery becomes routine.