I’d love to have a robot to handle basic home maintenance tasks. Somehow, I’m not quite willing to bet $20k and $500/month on this thing being anything more than a gimmick. I’d also be really curious what happens to my $20k robot if I cancel the subscription and/or the company goes under. Do I just end up with a really expensive object lesson is poor spending decisions?
A $20,000 humanoid that does chores is heading to US homes this year.
Submitted 2 months ago by TubbyMarmot@lemmy.zip to technology@lemmy.zip
https://morningoverview.com/a-20000-humanoid-that-does-chores-is-heading-to-us-homes-this-year/
Comments
sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
artyom@piefed.social 2 months ago
I mean they demoed this thing not that long ago and it was a disaster. So yeah, my expectations are low.
Diplomjodler3@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Pretty much. There’s basically zero chance this will not end up on the pile of products released way before they reached commercial viability.
sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Move fast and break things.
And by “things” they mean “functionality”.
I’d also bet on “security” being one of those things. I can’t wait to hear about the first time some kids from 4chan take control of one of these bots.
agamemnonymous@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
I mean, it’s 2026. I can’t imagine the robot can’t be jailbroken.
dandi8@fedia.io 2 months ago
Who's gonna hire an Indian to teleoperate it, then?
LastYearsIrritant@sopuli.xyz 2 months ago
Sure, but without the giant data center running it, the robot won’t be able to do anything.
$20k is probably decent for the amount of hardware you get, but the software is what would make this actually useful. And it’s a long bet on if they can make it work.
Of course I wouldn’t bring anything like this into my home that connects to a remote data center, it would have to be 100% locally run.
HubertManne@piefed.social 2 months ago
wait. wait. wait. theres a monthly fee as well?
sylver_dragon@lemmy.world 2 months ago
What, you expect to actually own something that costs you $20k? Quit obstructing their access to your bank account. Think of the shareholders!
floofloof@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
They’re replacing underpaid immigrant workers with underpaid overseas workers remotely controlling a robot, while some rich techbro asshole in the middle skims off almost all the money.
Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 months ago
I do chores for less than that.
And I’m fuckable.
Toast28@piefed.social 2 months ago
Are you though?
Kolanaki@pawb.social 2 months ago
I am fully functional and programmed in multiple techniques.
artyom@piefed.social 2 months ago
How much do you charge for fucking vs. chores?
Slartifartblast@piefed.social 2 months ago
…and then doing the fucking chores?
I’m asking for a sick friend.
jwt@programming.dev 2 months ago
Why do they keep insisting on humanoid? Just give me the crushinator to do chores for $10,000.
artyom@piefed.social 2 months ago
Because a humanoid robot can theoretically do all the things humans can do, using appliances designed for humans to operate.
jwt@programming.dev 2 months ago
Non-humanoids can theoretically do that too.
HubertManne@piefed.social 2 months ago
I felt like robo simian made sense for versatility. I can see some thing that is more like a carbon atom so it can naturally tripod but can go to 2 or even one limb as base and have more grasping limbs.
BigTrout75@lemmy.world 2 months ago
It’s amazing, they can make a 20k humanoid but it’s impossible to make a 20k EV car.
Triumph@fedia.io 2 months ago
Here's the neat part: they can't.
TubbyMarmot@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Fuck $20K for anything. We need an under $10K car.
artyom@piefed.social 2 months ago
Strip the cybercab of all its shitty tech and they could absolutely sell it for $20k.
DarrinBrunner@lemmy.world 2 months ago
I suppose for a large house, $500/mo. is what one would pay for maid service.
I don’t believe one robot can effectively clean piss from the corner behind the toilet, AND do laundry, AND clean windows, AND dust, AND clean a shower head, AND clean a refrigerator, etc., etc.
Imagine a robot collecting everything out of a fridge onto a counter, removing the glass shelves, cleaning them, cleaning the inside of the fridge, and then putting everything back without breaking anything, and doing it in 30 minutes. Not happening. Even if it were done completely by remote control, I don’t think it could do it.
These things are not anywhere close to a replacement for a human, but they’ll keep pushing it.
ShawiniganHandshake@sh.itjust.works 2 months ago
$500 sounds about right for weekly maid service. That means the base price of the robot not including subscription fees, power, repairs, etc. would get you ~3 years of maid service.
If your maid service goes out of business, you just find a new one. What are the odds this company will still be around in 3 years? Not a wager I’d be willing to make.
Krusty@quokk.au 2 months ago
But can you fuck it?
Asking for a friend.
square@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
I’m the friend.
ishartdoritos@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
Bullshit
JakenVeina@midwest.social 2 months ago
Nah, not bullshit. Just doesn’t do them without remote human control. That falls under “features to he introduced at a later date.”
atrielienz@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Who’s homes?
JakenVeina@midwest.social 2 months ago
Sherlock Homes.
Mulligrubs@lemmy.world 2 months ago
They have been saying this since the 1990s, Rocky had a robot maid. Useless unless you just want something that kills anything that moves, which would be pretty cool I guess.
magnetosphere@fedia.io 2 months ago
“Our company is cooler than X because we put a ‘1’ in front of it.”
vane@lemmy.world 2 months ago
snoons@lemmy.ca 2 months ago
lol
taking bets on how long it will take for this to become abandonware
givesomefucks@lemmy.world 2 months ago
Quick…
I saw a story a while ago about a tech company renting out airbnbs as training environments for these types of bots
They absolutely destroyed the houses, fine motor skills is insanely difficult, and the robots just kept breaking everything.
The coders don’t understand how the human brain works (no one does really, but they’re especially ignorant). So they’re trying to to make one “thing” that controls everything instead of a bunch of subprocesses acting along guidance
TubbyMarmot@lemmy.zip 2 months ago
I bet it never even makes it to market. Now robots will for sure, but these first ones out of the gate types rarely make it.