--- title: "Creators of Amazon’s New Robot Secretly Admitted It’s “Terrible”" description: "According to documents and video meeting recordings obtained by Vice, engineers aren't exactly thrilled by the $999 robot they came up with for Amazon." date: "2021-09-29" modified: "2021-09-29" authors: - name: "Victor Tangermann" job_title: "Senior Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/victor" url: "https://futurism.com/amazon-robot-terrible" categories: - "Robotics" - "Robots and Machines" tags: - "Amazon" - "autonomous robots" --- # Creators of Amazon’s New Robot Secretly Admitted It’s “Terrible” ![According to documents and video meeting recordings obtained by Vice, engineers aren't exactly thrilled by the $999 robot they came up with for Amazon.]() *\Image: Amazon/Futurism\* According to developer documents and video meeting recordings [obtained by *Vice*](), the engineers behind Amazon's new $999 robot aren't thrilled with the finished product. The e-retailer recently [announced the Astro](), a stalkerish two-wheeled robot designed to keep track of everything you do, and even spy on anybody unlucky enough to enter your home. Even if you sign on to that troubling premise, the bot's developers apparently weren't happy with the final product. "Astro is terrible and will almost certainly throw itself down a flight of stairs if presented the opportunity," an unnamed developer said, as quoted by *Vice*. "The person detection is unreliable at best, making the in-home security proposition laughable." "The device feels fragile for something with an absurd cost," the developer added. *Vice*'s source also criticized the device's marketing as an accessibility device, telling the outlet that it's "at best, absurdist nonsense and marketing and, at worst, potentially dangerous for anyone who'd actually rely on it for accessibility purposes." A second source who also worked on the project called it "a disaster that's not ready for release," noting that "they break themselves and will almost certainly fall down stairs in real world users' homes." Senior PR manager Kristy Schmidt called the allegations "simply inaccurate," telling *Vice* that the robot "went through rigorous testing on both quality and safety, including tens of thousands of hours of testing with beta participants." It's almost poetic: a highly invasive robot hellbent on throwing itself down a flight of stairs. Astro represents the kind of future we've been warning about for all these years: a largely autonomous robot actively spying on strangers, developed by a company that has [built its success]() on collecting every bit of information it can glean from its customers. Fortunately, it isn't likely to fly off the shelves given its hefty price tag. **READ MORE:** [Leaked Documents Show How Amazon’s Astro Robot Tracks Everything You Do]() \[*Vice*\] **More on Amazon:** *[Companies Are Ditching Drug Tests Because They’re Blocking Good Candidates]()* ## Author I've been at Futurism since 2017, where my role has evolved to encompass design, writing, and increasingly editing. I've always been fascinated by space exploration and advanced transportation, which I've leaned into by interviewing luminaries in those fields while closely following the dimensions of policy and regulation that allow next-generation projects to succeed -- or, sometimes, to fail. I'm also keenly interested in the effects of generative AI on society, policies, and democratic institutions, as well as clean energy, physics and biology, and the vagaries of tech leadership. My work for Futurism has been cited by publications including Ars Technica, Gizmodo, PC Magazine, Jalopnik, Fox News, and the New York Post. I spent my childhood living in locations including Manila, the Philippines, and Geneva, Switzerland, attended McGill University, and now live in Toronto, Canada. Before Futurism I worked at AskMen and a small photography studio. In my free time, I'm an avid gardener, foodie, and craft beer lover, as well as a maker of artisanal hot pepper sauces. I have a magnificent dog named Freida. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()