Internet shocked after robot built for fighting flips out and thrashes about on factory floor

Developers have rushed to play down a clip of a humanoid robot — designed specifically for fighting — completely losing its marbles on the factory floor.

Welcome to this week’s episode of “man-made horrors beyond human comprehension”.

A humanoid robot named DeREK had what you might call a “moment” on the floor of a San Francisco robotics lab this week, putting a fright up millions of viewers.

The now-viral clip shows the mechanical humanoid suspended from a crane, flailing like a drunk before causing the crane to collapse.

Nearby, a man freezes in shock, hands on his head like he just realised he was standing in the prologue of a cautionary sci-fi movie.

“Oh my god, what the f*** was that?” a female voice gasps. “I’m so sorry.”

From off-camera, company REK’s self-described “chief robot fighter” Cix Liv replies: “What the f*** did you guys run?”

Whether this was a meticulously planned PR stunt or just an accident that doubled as great marketing is unclear.

Either way, it’s a solid preview of what REK is selling, which is humanoid robots punching each other in the face for your entertainment. Think UFC, but with slightly fewer concussions.

“Please make this go viral so I can pay for repairs,” Mr Liv wrote on X under the video. “Our humanoid robot boy DeREK completely lost his mind.”

According to Mr Liv, the meltdown was not DeREK going rogue but a “human error”.

“The technical reason is we ran a full body policy while the feet weren’t touching the ground. Don’t do that,” he wrote, explaining that the emergency stop takes five seconds and that the robot did not stop flailing until its connection to the internet was physically unplugged.

“Honestly everything happened so fast (we’re) still trying to figure it out.

“First the policy wasn’t supposed to do this, even in documentation it could be run while suspended. The issue was that the end state was back into walking mode.

“Killing it through netcode didn’t work, the radio based (emergency) stop they give you takes five seconds to complete now.

“When the ethernet cable finally dislodged it finally stopped.”

A humanoid robot named DeREK had what you might call a 'moment' this week.

Mr Liv, a decade deep in the VR gaming world, is now working on ways for humans to pilot these robot brawlers remotely via VR headsets.

DeREK himself is a G1 model from Chinese robotics company Unitree, a machine so nimble it’s been filmed pulling off Kung fu moves and chatting to West Hollywood pedestrians in Gen Alpha slang.

The same technology that can bow politely can now also swing a high kick like Bruce Lee, all in the name of “innovation”.

Very comforting.

And despite the impromptu demolition job, DeREK lived to fight another day.

“Surprisingly, he still walks,” Liv confirmed when asked if anything was permanently broken.

He described the video as “pure cinema” and attempted to play down the scene.

“He’s growing up to be a strong boy,” he joked.

Chinese robot ‘gets aggressive’ at festival

There are more and more videos like DeREK’s meltdown emerging as robotics development steams ahead.

People across the globe are now questioning whether we’re a still able put the AI genie back in the bottle after viewing one too many malfunction videos.

While warnings from AI pioneers may influence some, the reality is that the freight train of innovation will stop for nobody.

In China, it appears to be pedal to the metal when it comes to the robotics industry.

Earlier this year, a video surfaced appearing to show a robot “getting aggressive” with a human at a festival in the highly-developed nation.

The viral clip, shared by X user Ben Geskin, sparked a wave of speculation online, with the world’s most popular podcast host suggesting it was the latest glimpse into our dystopian near-future.

“An AI robot attacked a human at a mass event in China; is this the beginning?” Mr Geskin wrote in his post.

Popular podcaster Joe Rogan reported the footage on his Instagram and set off a snowball.

“An AI robot got aggressive with spectators in China. The way it did it was eerily human. I don’t like this at all,” Rogan wrote.

The clip in question is startling at first glance, with the robot clearly lunging towards a person behind a barricade. The event’s security quickly grabbed the bipedal contraption and the situation looked a little tense for a fleeting moment.

The problem is, the camera angle obscured the robot’s legs and from there the debate raged.

Those who want to believe we are hurtling towards a sci-fi future where robots roam the planet exterminating every human in sight had a field day, claiming the clip was irrefutable evidence that humanoid robots had achieved consciousness and were already annoyed at humans enough to attack one.

Earlier this year, a video surfaced appearing to show a robot ‘getting aggressive’ with a human at a festival in China.

But others were a bit less dramatic and said the robot clearly tripped forward and gave the illusion it was shaping up for a drunken hook.

Commenters pointed out that the robot appeared to “trip and fall against the barricade,” with one claiming “it’s clear as day that it tripped FFS”.

It does highlight a genuine issue in robotics. Boston Dynamics, one of the companies at the forefront of humanoid robot development, has been uploading videos for years showcasing their dexterity, with some able to perform backflips and complete manual labour tasks with relative ease.

But there’s still a long way to go in developing how AI handles unexpected situations.

Robots are typically designed for stability, but when they do fall, their attempts to regain balance can appear erratic or even aggressive.

Rogan has long voiced his concern over the rapid expansion of advanced AI. A famous episode with Elon Musk in 2018 saw the world’s richest man declare we were already past the tipping point of AI capabilities, claiming he “tried to warn them” and had now adopted an “if you can’t beat it, join it” approach.

Spooky.

Originally published as Internet shocked after robot built for fighting flips out and thrashes about on factory floor