The technology spans domestic utility, state enforcement, and battlefield support. In San Francisco, civilian workers earn hourly wages to walk mechanical dogs to train artificial intelligence models for future consumer tasks. Concurrently, federal agencies are investing millions into tactical hardware, while defense-backed ventures pursue cybernetic and genetic enhancements for combat canines.
Key points
Commercial developers envision robotic quadrupeds eventually assisting the general public…: Commercial developers envision robotic quadrupeds eventually assisting the general public with everyday tasks like carrying groceries.
Federal agencies are actively procuring advanced mechanical units while asserting they wi…: Federal agencies are actively procuring advanced mechanical units while asserting they will not be deployed for nefarious purposes.
High-profile defense and bioscience investors are expanding the technology into living an…: High-profile defense and bioscience investors are expanding the technology into living animals engineered for modern military combat.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Have you ever wanted to hang out with a dog with no fur, no face and a chip in its shoulder? If so, I suggest you head to San Francisco, where a startup called Dimensional has been paying people $20 (£15) an hour to walk four-legged robot dogs. This isn’t because the dogs need the exercise – it is because the company needs the training data. As reported in the New York Times, the goal is to develop “operating systems that can integrate with AI agents so the machines can act more independently”.
What exactly will these machines do when they can act more independently? The founder of Dimensional insists they will help people. They might carry groceries home, for example, which is certainly something my tiny chihuahua-mix is incapable of.
While it is nice to think that robo dogs are all going to be very good boys, there is a darker side to the industry. A couple of months ago it was reported that US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) planned to spend up to $2m (£1.5m) on robot…
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