Oscar Schwartz - Yes, hyena robots are scary. But they’re also a cunning marketing ploy

There’s something unsettling about a private firm making powerful autonomous machines – but what’s scarier is who’s building them, and why

These robots are not that advanced yet.


Earlier this year, videos of a robot being kicked, hit with a chair, and shot at by its human owners spread online. Created by an LA-based production company, Corridor Digital, the videos were a parody of those released by Boston Dynamics, a company that has been making robots since 1992.


But with their videos of robot cheetahs and back-flipping androids, Boston Dynamics have exploited this narrative as a marketing tool. This is a cunning trick. By appropriating the sci-fi narrative in their videos, Boston Dynamics is, for one, overselling their robots. (They are nowhere near strong, smart, or robust enough to challenge human supremacy, whatever that means.)

Oscar Schwartz - Yes, hyena robots are scary. But they’re also a cunning marketing ploy