March 19, 2026
A Dancing Humanoid Robot Goes Wild at Dinner
Restaurant workers restrained a dancing humanoid robot after its flailing arms scattered dishes, though the chain denied a malfunction.
A humanoid robot’s dinner performance ended with at least three restaurant employees trying to hold it down as its arms swung through dishes and tableware.
The incident happened at a Haidilao hot-pot restaurant in Cupertino, California. Video reviewed by TechCrunch shows staff struggling to control a robot that appears to be an AgiBot X2.
Haidilao confirmed the incident but denied that the robot was “malfunctioning or out of control.” The chain said a guest had asked for the machine to be brought closer to a table and that limited space affected its movement.
Too Close
Whatever caused the erratic movement, the dining room was filled with hot broth, glassware, children, and people who did not know the robot’s operating envelope.
Industrial robots work inside controlled zones. A restaurant entertainer works inside a crowd. That changes the safety problem from precision alone to choreography, supervision, emergency controls, and human behavior.
Guests will ask a robot to move closer. Staff will improvise. Furniture will shift. The system has to remain safe outside the clean conditions of a demonstration.
Embodied Risk
Humanoid robots attract attention because their bodies suggest flexibility. Arms and legs let them operate in spaces designed for people. Those same limbs create force, reach, and unpredictability when the environment becomes cramped.
No injury was reported in Cupertino, but the episode exposed the need for a clear stop procedure.
Staff appeared to use physical restraint while one employee looked at a phone, possibly seeking a software control. A visible emergency stop or trained operator could have ended the performance faster.
Dinner Test
Restaurants are becoming public laboratories for embodied AI. Service robots already deliver food, guide guests, mix ingredients, and clean floors. Humanoids add personality and spectacle.
The real test arrives after the applause, when a machine must share a messy room with unpredictable people. Haidilao says the robot did not malfunction. The room still lost control of the dance.