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This machine rages against you.
The rise of the machines could be closer than you think. A humanoid bot had to be “bounced” from a California restaurant after smashing tableware during a dance routine gone awry, as seen in viral X footage.
The smashing machine had reportedly been tasked with performing for patrons at the Haidilao hotpot restaurant in San Jose.
The clip, mistakenly labeled as transpiring in China, starts innocuously enough with said robot shaking its hands and twerking its hips while clad in an orange apron ironically labeled “I’m good.”
Then, all of a sudden, the disco droid starts tearing up the dance floor.
The termi-waiter proceeds to start knocking over tableware, smashing plates and sending chopsticks flying, evoking one of the failed automated police prototypes from Robocop 2.
That’s when waitstaff proceed to grab the dance machine by the scruff of its neck and haul it outside while it continues to bust moves a la an unruly St Paddy’s Day reveler.
Commenters were bemused by the machine’s malfunction.
“[It] broke free from the matrix,” quipped one, while another joked, “This is what happens when you don’t pay your robots enough.”
However, some found the automated employee’s tantrum somewhat dystopian with one critic warning, “the revolution is going to begin.”
“It’s all fun and games, till the robot doesn’t find it funny anymore,” said another.
“This is actually scary,” declared a third. “Watch how hard three grown people have to wrestle this thing just to make it freeze.”
“Now picture that same loss of control in a 100+ kg combat/security humanoid, or one carrying sharp tools in a kitchen/factory,” they added, stressing the need for “emergency stop buttons” within arms reach.
It’s yet unclear if the automaton was “terminated” following its dance dance revolution, but this isn’t the first time a bot has lost control on the job.
In 2025, freaky footage showed a humanoid robot seemingly snapping and lashing out at its handlers at a Chinese factory like something out of a sci-fi thriller.
These shocking incidents comes as anthropomorphic-seeming machines are becoming more integrated into our everyday lives.
This past winter, Shanghai start-up DroidUP unveiled an eerily realistic humanoid service bot named Moya with camera eyes and warm skin.
“A robot that truly serves human life should be warm, have a temperature, almost like a living being that people can connect with,” said company founder Li Qingdu.
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