The California State Athletic Commission has issued a cease-and-desist order to the startup Rek. The regulatory body demands that the company stop organizing, promoting, or advertising any boxing or mixed martial arts matches involving humans within the state without prior official approval.
The intervention follows a fight held on September 18, which featured a human, Frankie LaPenna, competing against a humanoid robot. The robot, which appeared to be an EngineAI model modified with a custom head, was controlled by a human operator through a remote virtual-reality system.
Rek CEO Cix Liv shared the commission's letter on X on September 30. The document explicitly labels the previous event as an unsanctioned contest. Despite the regulatory pressure, the company continues its operations and has scheduled a new match for this Friday.
The upcoming event will shift the focus away from human-robot combat. According to the company's announcement, the next exhibition will feature two robots equipped with weapons fighting against each other.
