Las Vegas-based BattleBots - one of the best-known event organisers in the fast-growing sport of robot fighting, with a hit US television series - has invited Tesla founder Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to face off in a ferocious robot-on-robot fighting competition for the title of the most powerful tech CEO in the world.
The invitation follows the reported cancellation of a cage fight between the two tech giants after Musk's mother, Maye, shared her opposition to the match online, tweeting that she "cancelled the fight."
The two global tech moguls and their respective companies are invited to each design and build a formidable robot to fight in the 'BattleBox', a huge purpose-built robot combat arena in the centre of Las Vegas.
"This would unleash an epic battle of innovation, engineering and strategic brilliance," said Trey Roski, co-creator of BattleBots. "I can't think of anyone more qualified to create and fight two ultimate killing machines. It'll be a fight to the death, broadcasted live to the world from the BattleBots Arena. Of course, all the profits will go to STEM charities – BattleBots is all about helping find and nurture the next generation of tech and engineering talent."
Image credit: Battlebots
If Musk and Zuckerberg are unable or unwilling to invest in building new fighting machines, BattleBots has offered to let the contestants select a robot combat champion of their choice from BattleBots' roster of past champions for an unforgettable contest. As well as watching the event live, fans around the world would also have the opportunity to vote on who they think would win the fight.
Roski added: "We believe STEM education and CTE [Career Technical Education] are essential for the future of our world. This event would be an incredibly resonant way to raise awareness of the importance of science, engineering and technology in education and encourage people across the globe to become part of it. Also, unlike UFC, it's a sport in which contestants can literally be destroyed, but no human ever gets hurt."
BattleBots has been running robot fights for over 20 years, bringing a unique mix of metal mayhem, flames, explosions and high drama to its fans around the world. Created by Edward (Trey) Roski and Greg Munson, the TV show is now watched in more than 150 countries and the sport has over 10 million followers on social media.
