Two Serve Robotics delivery bots rolled straight into a tense police standoff in Hollywood last week. They stopped inches from emergency responders tending to a man in mental distress. One lingered for three full minutes, until paramedics wheeled him away on a stretcher.
The scene unfolded at 3:23 p.m. on April 23 near Cherokee Plaza. Half a dozen cops, firefighters, and medics surrounded the man. The bots—autonomous coolers on wheels—approached anyway. Like oblivious bystanders. One backed off after 30 seconds. The other didn’t budge.
William Gude captured it all. He runs the X account Film The Police LA. In the video, he narrates: “There’s a standoff. Look at this.” Then, incredulous: “If I went that close, I’m getting arrested. If I went right there where that robot is, I am one hundred percent getting arrested. They can go over there, and I can’t!” Futurism broke the story, embedding Gude’s clip posted on April 23.
Gude knows these bots well. He’s documented their mishaps across Los Angeles sidewalks. Last month, he went viral berating one that asked him to hit a crosswalk button. His separate TikTok, Film The Robots LA, boasts nearly 500,000 followers. Videos show bots named Lance and Shelby for “reckless driving.” Another flips over robot Virgil.
Serve Robotics operates thousands in Hollywood and beyond. CEO Ali Kashani calls human behavior toward them better than expected. Out of 10,000 recent deliveries, just 11 failed—0.11%—some from meddling, falls, or glitches. “We as a species have a lower opinion of ourselves. We think we are worse than we actually are,” Kashani told Business Insider on April 6.
Collisions Mount as Bots Multiply
But failures pile up. Last month in Chicago, Serve and Coco bots smashed glass bus shelters days apart. Serve’s even starred in an apology ad at the site. A spokesperson said devices now treat shelters with extra caution. Block Club Chicago covered the West Town incident.
And Hollywood? An ambulance crashed into a delivery bot on January 24 at Western and Fountain avenues. The patient switched vehicles; injuries weren’t life-threatening. ABC7 Los Angeles reported no fault assigned. Days later, a Serve bot stalled in a crosswalk, blocking a blaring fire truck.
Elsewhere, chaos. A Coco bot in East Hollywood uprooted a garden, snagged a fence, dragged it down the street. February 22. Resident Jillian Smukler called it the latest headache. Starship bots tripped an Arizona State employee last fall; the company offered promo codes. 404 Media got the police report.
Coco’s Zach Rash downplays vandalism. “That was the big worry. Is this going to make it impossible to run the business? And the answer is, ‘No.'” Starship’s Ahti Heinla boasts nine million deliveries, zero thefts. Human interference? Too rare to track.
Short punch. Robots block disabled pedestrians. One veered into a wheelchair user’s path in West Hollywood, sparking 26 million views. Los Angeles Times noted the debate.
Cities Push Back on Bot Encroachment
Public spaces strain under the wheels. Chicago’s one ward banned them after a resident vote. San Francisco eyed deadly police robots in 2022 but paused amid outcry. NPR tracked the flip.
Yet expansion rolls on. DoorDash deploys in Fremont. Coco hits San Jose. Serve partners with Uber Eats. Bots ask walkers for crosswalk help now—a tweak for speed. Kashani credits cute designs, like R2-D2 vibes. Rash agrees: no one’s annoyed by the helpful droid.
So bots beeline through crises. Vandalism simmers—kicks in Philly, graffiti in Sheffield. Kiwibot logged 1,600 attacks on 80,000 Berkeley runs. Each replacement: $2,500.
Gude’s point lands hard. Humans risk arrest near danger zones. Bots don’t. As deployments surge—tens of thousands nationwide—questions grow. Who yields on packed sidewalks? Emergency access. Pedestrian rights. Companies tout 99% success, reimbursing stolen loads. But insurance hikes hit restaurants. Prices climb for everyone.
Awkward intruders today. Potential hazards tomorrow. Cities watch. Regulators stir. The bots keep rolling.
WebProNews is an iEntry Publication