Workplace killer robots – Breaking News & Latest Updates 2026
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How worker robots could turn into killers

Andrew Webster
is an entertainment editor covering streaming, virtual worlds, and every single Pokémon video game. Andrew joined The Verge in 2012, writing over 4,000 stories.

The robots are leaving their cages. While most of us think of the likes of the Terminator when it comes to potential killer robots, a new report in the New York Times suggests that they could come in a much more mundane form. As robotic workers in factories and warehouses work increasingly closer to their human counterparts and leave the safety of their cages, the level of danger rises considerably. “In order for robots to work more productively,” HDT Robotics’ Kent Massey tells the Times, “they must escape from their cages and be able to work alongside people.” To find out more about the safety concerns raised by free roaming industrial robots, be sure to check out the full piece — including some truly adorable illustrations of robot accidents dating back to 1996.

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