When we think of existential threats from new technologies, we usually think of something like the recent negotiations between Anthropic and the Pentagon on how AI can be used in the military. It’s terrifying to think about: how long will it be before a nuclear weapon can be detonated without any human intervention?
We’ve spent so much time thinking about these potential disasters that we haven’t prepared for the most immediate danger among us: dancing robots.
A dancing robot at Haidilao hot pot restaurant in Cupertino, California, booped a little too loudly, got too close to a table and started smashing plates and sending dishes and chopsticks everywhere, prompting restaurant staff to intervene, according to to a video posted on Chinese social network Xiaohongshu by user Meooow.
A dancing humanoid robot got a little too funky during a performance in Cupertino, California, and had to be restrained by staff after dropping items on a table. pic.twitter.com/nZQsGoFHn6
– ABC News (@ABC) March 19, 2026
From what we can see the videoat least three employees struggled to restrain the robot as it flung its arms. A Haidilao employee appears to be looking at her phone, perhaps to try to activate something on an app controlling the robot. It is possible that the robot — which appears to be an AgiBot X2 robotwhich was featured at the CES conference in January – has a kill switch, but staff may not have known how to operate it.
If you’re not familiar with fondue, know that, as the name suggests, they are very hot pots of soup. Nobody likes spilled food, but if the robot knocked over bowls full of bone broth, it would not only be a culinary disaster, it could seriously burn someone. Not to mention the potential damage caused by the now moshing automaton.
When the Killers sang “Are we human or are we dancers“, we didn’t realize they were asking us to take a stand in future robot wars.
Haidilao confirmed the mechanical setbacks in a statement to NBC Newsbut denied that the robot was “malfunctioning or out of control.”
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“In this case, the robot was brought closer to a dining table at the request of a customer, which is not its usual operating setting,” the Chinese hot pot restaurant chain told NBC News in a statement. “The limited space affected his movements during the performance.”
AgiBot did not immediately respond to TechCrunch’s request for comment.
Haidilao experienced a “smart restaurant” in Beijing, which used robotic waiters and broth mixers. It seems that this restaurant in Haidilao used this robot only for for entertainment purposesbut things got out of hand when he danced a little too close to the customers.
Many startups are working to introduce robots into the restaurant industry, like Shin Starr, which works to create fully autonomous kitchens. Pudu Robotics’ BellaBota cutesy cat-like robot, can direct customers to their seats and bring out their food once it’s ready.
It may be safer than humanoid robots, at least for now: the BellaBot has no limbs.
Amanda Silberling is a senior writer at TechCrunch covering the intersection of technology and culture. She has also written for publications including Polygon, MTV, Kenyon Review, NPR and Business Insider. She is co-host of Wow If True, a podcast about internet culture, with science fiction author Isabel J. Kim. Before joining TechCrunch, she worked as a grassroots organizer, museum educator, and film festival coordinator. She holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Pennsylvania and was a Princeton Asia Fellow in Laos.
You can contact or check on Amanda’s outreach by emailing amanda@techcrunch.com or via encrypted message to @amanda.100 on Signal.
