This AI-powered robot has worked out how to solve a Rubik's Cube in just 0.305 seconds

A Japanese robot has solved a Rubik's Cube in world record time, thanks in part to artificial intelligence (AI) that helps it to distinguish between the puzzle's colored panels, new footage shows. The entire process happens in less time than the blink of a human eye.  

The record-breaking robot, "TOKUI Fast Accurate Synchronized Motion Testing Robot" (TOKUFASTbot), was created by Japan's Mitsubishi Electric Corporation to help improve factory automation equipment used in electronics production. 

It has six arms connected to a multi-axis motor and a high-speed camera, both of which are connected to an industrial computer. The system is capable of turning each arm 90 degrees in just 0.009 seconds, Mitsubishi representatives said in a statement.

On May 21, TOKUFASTbot solved a rotating 3x3x3 "puzzle cube" in 0.305 seconds, setting a new world record, according to Guinness World Records. The previous record time was 0.38 seconds, which was set by an MIT robot in 2018. For comparison, a human blink takes between 0.1 and 0.4 seconds, according to Harvard University's bionumbers database.

The new record is around 10 times quicker than the record for a human solving the puzzle — 3.13 seconds, set by Max Park in June 2023. 

In the Mitsubishi video, which uses slow-motion cameras to show the robot in action, TOKUFASTbot solved a puzzle cube even faster — in 0.204 seconds — on May 7 using around 15 moves. However, this attempt did not adhere to the "measurement rules" set out by Guinness World Records so it does not count, Mitsubishi representatives wrote in the video's YouTube description.

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