German police are investigating a 16-year-old and a 19-year-old after they allegedly used a remote-controlled humanoid robot to grope and harass a 16-year-old girl in public.
Cologne authorities confiscated the robot on October 13 after receiving reports over the weekend, and emergency services were dispatched to the scene, the Associated Press reported. Video clips that purportedly show the incident depict a 4-foot-tall robot, dressed in clothes and jewelry, being steered through busy streets to bump into women, apparently as part of a livestream. Neither suspect has been charged yet; police are treating them as suspects while they investigate. Investigators are also trying to determine whether the robot was pre-programmed to act this way or controlled in real time, a distinction that could shape what charges, if any, follow.
This is less a robot story than a livestreaming-harassment story with a new prop. Streamers have spent years profiting from secretly recording unsuspecting strangers, including through tools like Meta's AI-powered Ray-Ban glasses, and platforms have only recently started cracking down. A walking, human-shaped robot adds a physical layer to that same economy, and German authorities say they've never dealt with a case like it.
Expect that novelty to wear off fast as these bots get cheaper and more streamers look for a gimmick.