Serve Robotics’ Food Delivery Robot Helped Convict Criminals in LA

Footage taken by Serve Robotics’ food delivery robot helped in convicting two criminals in Los Angeles after their failed attempt to steal off said robot on the street. The two criminals were later arrested.

The CEO of Serve Robotics, Ali Kashani, proudly posted on X (formerly Twitter), “Some genius once tried to steal one of our robots… It didn’t end well (for them).”. It was reported that the food delivery robot got away on its own and was “unharmed” while it dodged robbery attempts as it delivered orders from Uber Eats.

While Serve Robotics’ company principles include “not using robots for surveillance or other purposes that violate the public’s sense of privacy,” and avoiding unnecessary strain on public resources such as calling the police to report every minor incident of robot vandalism, this robbery case was a different story. With that, the successful conviction led Serve and the LAPD to create an “open line of communication” between the two should any potential troubles arise in the future.

However, there were public concerns regarding privacy as the robots would record and film while they made their deliveries. Serve’s responded to such by stating that it is the company’s policy to “regularly delete camera feed unless otherwise required, and to comply with subpoena requests.”.

Nonetheless, it’s interesting how food delivery robots can now serve different uses and applications to help the public other than bringing people hot meals to their doorsteps.