Event
Cologne Police Seize Remote-Controlled Humanoid Robot and Investigate Operator
4 reports · 3 sources
Police in Cologne, Germany, seized a humanoid robot about 1.2 meters tall styled after Iron Man and are investigating the robot's 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old companion on suspicion of sexual insult. Police said they are investigating whether someone deliberately controlled its movements. According to subsequent reports, a 16-year-old girl was touched on the buttocks from behind by the robot outside a fast-food restaurant in central Cologne, and the robot made sexually suggestive movements; the two young people livestreamed the entire incident. Police found the robot and two mobile phones in the trunk of a nearby car. The robot was not operating autonomously but was being remotely controlled. Cologne police have provisionally opened a case on suspicion of "insult for sexual motives" and are also checking whether filming and disseminating the video without consent violates likeness rights and privacy regulations. Police said there is no precedent for such a case; reports said which specific provision applies remains disputed among German legal scholars.
Developments
- The Regulatory Blind Spots Behind the World's First Robot Molestation Case · 3 reports
- Humanoid robot sexually harasses 16-year-old girl on Cologne street; operator livestreamed it and was detained by police · 1 reports
Report timeline
- The Regulatory Blind Spots Behind the World's First Robot Molestation Case
Outside a fast-food restaurant in Cologne, Germany, a 16-year-old girl was touched on the buttocks from behind by a 1.2-meter-tall humanoid robot styled as Iron Man; two young people (the robot's 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old companion) livestreamed the entire incident from nearby, and police opened an investigation on suspicion of sexual insult and seized the robot and two mobile phones from a car trunk nearby.
OFweek Robotics ·
- World's first robot molestation case: the regulatory blind spots behind a 16-year-old girl's assault by a humanoid robot in Cologne
Late at night on October 11, a 16-year-old girl outside a fast-food restaurant in Cologne, Germany, was touched on the buttocks from behind by a 1.2-meter-tall Iron Man-shaped humanoid robot that also made sexually suggestive movements; two young people livestreamed the entire incident, and police found the robot and two mobile phones in the trunk of a nearby car, investigating the robot's 16-year-old owner and his 19-year-old companion on suspicion of sexual insult.
脑极体 · 微信公众号 ·
- Humanoid robot sexually harasses 16-year-old girl on Cologne street; operator livestreamed it and was detained by police
In Cologne, Germany, a 16-year-old boy operated a humanoid robot about 1.2 meters tall to sexually harass a 16-year-old girl on the street while livestreaming the entire incident. Police have seized the robot and both individuals' phones as evidence. The robot, red and gold in color and about four feet tall, was hidden in the trunk of a Volkswagen. Police have opened a case on suspicion of "insult for sexual motives" and are also investigating whether filming and distributing the video without consent violates image rights and privacy laws, saying such a case has no precedent.
雷科技 ·
- German teenager remotely controls humanoid robot to sexually harass girl; who should police arrest? Embodied AI ethics faces a test
In Cologne, Germany, a 1.2-meter-tall humanoid robot was remotely controlled outside a fast-food restaurant to touch a 16-year-old girl's buttocks and make indecent gestures; the incident was livestreamed, and police have seized the robot and are investigating its 16-year-old owner and a 19-year-old companion. The key point is that the robot was not operating autonomously but was controlled by a person, so the law needs to determine whether the actions were preprogrammed or remotely controlled in real time. The incident coincided with the release of China's "Embodied AI Ethics Governance Research Report" the same day, highlighting the legal gap in embodied AI ethics and the definition of responsibility.
OFweek Robotics ·