Giant robots battle it out in Detroit's Robowar

## Summary
Culture Giant robots battle it out in Detroit's Robowar March 13, 2026 9:50 AM ET Neda Ulaby The fighters at the Interactive Combat League are more than nine feet tall, wear suits of steel and shoot exploding projectiles toward each other. Timothy Chen Allen hide caption toggle caption Timothy Chen Allen In the back of a church in an anonymous stretch of 7 Mile in Detroit dotted with industrial lots and fast food stores, performers dressed as giant robots battle it out in front of a live audience behind bullet-proof glass. "We have these nine foot tall metal gladiators that shoot exploding projectiles at 20 rounds a second," says Art Cartwright, the impresario who founded both the church, Global Empowerment Ministries, and the organization behind the robot show, The Interactive Combat League. Cartwright's two enterprises have little to do with each other, he says, save for sharing space and introducing members of his community to potential employment in robotics. "Metropolitian Detroit right now leads the nation in robotics," Cartwright says. "We have more robots than any other place in America." But the gleaming, glowing-eyed stars of the Interactive Combat League are nothing like industrial robots that help assemble automobiles. Timothy Chen Allen hide caption toggle caption Timothy Chen Allen Robowar also features real robots — robot dogs and child-sized humanoids that dance and pose for pictures.

## Article Content
Culture
Giant robots battle it out in Detroit's Robowar
March 13, 2026
9:50 AM ET
Neda Ulaby
The fighters at the Interactive Combat League are more than nine feet tall, wear suits of steel and shoot exploding projectiles toward each other.
Timothy Chen Allen
hide caption
toggle caption
Timothy Chen Allen
In the back of a church in an anonymous stretch of 7 Mile in Detroit dotted with industrial lots and fast food stores, performers dressed as giant robots battle it out in front of a live audience behind bullet-proof glass.
"We have these nine foot tall metal gladiators that shoot exploding projectiles at 20 rounds a second," says Art Cartwright, the impresario who founded both the church, Global Empowerment Ministries, and the organization behind the robot show, The Interactive Combat League.
Word of the week
A play about the revolt of human workers — not machines — gave us the word 'robot'
The show, running every few months, is called
Robowar
. Cartwright's two enterprises have little to do with each other, he says, save for sharing space and introducing members of his community to potential employment in robotics.
"Metropolitian Detroit right now leads the nation in robotics," Cartwright says. "We have more robots than any other place in America."
But the gleaming, glowing-eyed stars of the Interactive Combat League are nothing like industrial robots that help assemble automobiles. They are played by humans wearing what might be considered mech suits. Robots fighting each other as entertainment is a cultural fantasy that goes back at least to 1956, when Richard Matheson's short story "Steel" was published in
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
It was adapted into a 1963 episode on the TV show
The Twilight Zone
, and helped inspire the 2011 movie,
Real Steel.
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"I'm a Marvel fan," Cartwright says. "So I'm like, okay, let's make some robots that look like superheroes."
Robowar has been selling out shows in its 572 seat auditorium since it launched last summer, and has attracted admiring national coverage. Tickets start at around $50. Cartwright says he eventually plans to stage online interactive robot fights where remote viewers control the action by buying virtual tokens. He says he's created AI personas for robots representing 30 different cities, from Boston to Los Angeles.
"They talk cash money trash," he chuckles.
A Detroit-themed quadruped is part of the action at the Robowar show.
Timothy Chen Allen
hide caption
toggle caption
Timothy Chen Allen
Robowar also features real robots — robot dogs and child-sized humanoids that dance and pose for pictures. Cartwright bought the smaller robots from a Chinese company, Unitree, known for making accessible robots, with some models available at places like Walmart and costing fewer than $20,000. At one point during the show, there's a robot competing in a dance-off against a human audience member, executing impressive spins and flips. But the audience, including a 10 year old Kaden Denard, mostly seems to root against the machine.
Word of the week
It's 2025, the year we decided we need a widespread slur for robots
"They are clankers!" Denard exclaims, using
an emerging slur against robots
and AI. "I want to be mean to the robots! They are clankers!"
"You better be nice to them before they finish you," his mother, Nawal Denard, jokes. Though the two depart into a cold Michigan night, along with hundreds of other spectators, the room they left was full of human warmth.
Edited for radio and web by Meghan Sullivan
robots
robotics
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## Expert Analysis

### Merits
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### Areas for Consideration
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### Implications
- They are played by humans wearing what might be considered mech suits.

### Expert Commentary
This article covers robots, cartwright, robot topics. Readability: Flesch-Kincaid grade 0.0. Word count: 602.