# California is trying to shut down robot vs. human cage matches > Source: > Published: 2026-10-08 20:06:56+00:00 # California is trying to shut down robot vs. human cage matches By Jay PetersSource: [The Verge AI](https://www.theverge.com) The California State Athletic Commission sent a cease-and-desist letter to a startup that hosted a match between a human and a robot last month, [as reported by *The New York Times*](https://www.nytimes.com/2026/10/08/technology/human-robot-cage-fights-california-rek.html). The fight, which took place on September 18th, pitted a human, Frankie LaPenna, against a humanoid robot owned by a tech startup, Rek, that was being piloted by a human using what the *NYT* described as a "remote virtual-reality system." Rek says it is the "the humanoid robot fighting league" on [its website](https://rek.com/fights), and the robot appears to be one from [EngineAI](https://en.engineai.com.cn/) but with a *Terminator*-like head swapped on top. You can watch a replay of the fight [on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4rg2sB6ELtk): The CEO of Rek, … Get AI news in your inbox Daily digest of what matters in AI.