Documented humanoid robot incidents: falls, malfunctions, misuse and a lawsuit

Humanoid robot incidents reported in 2025 and 2026 fall into four groups: falls in front of audiences, malfunctions during testing, high-speed crashes in competitions, and a German case in which a robot was allegedly used to harass a teenager. A whistleblower lawsuit has also raised questions about impact forces. None of these cases includes a confirmed serious injury to a member of the public.

This article covers only cases reported by named news organisations. It leaves out viral clips that nobody has verified. For each case it sets out what is known, what is only alleged, and what each one tells an organiser who plans to put a robot near people.

Why documented cases matter more than viral clips

Short videos of robots "going rogue" spread widely, but many have no date, no place and no source. Some are staged and some come from video games. A rule of thumb: an incident counts as documented when a news organisation names the place, the date and the people or companies involved, and has asked them for comment.

By that standard the public record is still small. That does not prove humanoids are safe. Most testing happens behind closed doors, and companies have no general duty to publish near-misses. The cases that are public show what tends to go wrong in practice.

Falls in front of an audience: the AIdol debut in Moscow

On 11 November 2025, the Russian start-up AIdol showed its humanoid robot to an audience in Moscow. Seconds after walking on stage to the Rocky theme, it fell over. Business Insider reported that the company has about 14 staff. Afterwards it posted on Telegram that the robot was "in good hands" and described the fall as a normal part of developing robots.

Nobody was reported hurt, and the fall became a joke online. For event planners the lesson is practical.

A walking humanoid can lose its balance during a live show, especially on an unfamiliar stage, under bright lights or shortly after setup. A robot of adult size that falls forward can hit anyone standing close to it. Our explainer on how humanoid robots keep their balance describes why this happens.

Malfunctions during testing: the Unitree H1 on a test rig

In May 2025 a video showed a Unitree H1 hanging from a frame, a common way to test movement. The robot suddenly began swinging its arms wildly. According to heise online, two engineers stepped out of the way, and one moved the suspension rig and switched the robot off. Nobody was injured.

heise said the probable cause was a coding error, not any intention by the robot, and the article contained no statement from Unitree.

This case matters because it shows two things. First, software faults can make a robot move hard and suddenly with no warning. Second, what actually protected the people in the room was distance and a quick way to cut the power. Both apply directly to events.

High-speed crashes: the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games

The second World Humanoid Robot Games took place in Beijing from 22 to 26 August 2026. Newsweek reported 2,056 robots from 666 teams in 51 events.

Many sprinters ran into large crash pads after the finish line. Some robots broke apart or caught fire, and Newsweek wrote that nearly all competitors had to be carried off on stretchers. A clip of one robot breaking at the waist after it failed to slow down passed 37.9 million views.

Newsweek put the main problem down to stopping. A two-legged robot running at speed has a lot of momentum, and teams had worked more on speed than on braking smoothly.

The organisers' answer was to pad the area past the finish line. The same robots that broke sprint records were often the ones that could not stop. For more detail, see our analysis of what the Robot Games show about mobility.

Misuse: the Cologne case in October 2026

The most serious case for public events is about misuse, not malfunction. The Associated Press reported that on the night of Saturday to Sunday, 10–11 October 2026, a robot about 120 centimetres tall touched a 16-year-old girl inappropriately in Cologne and made sexual movements towards her. The robot had been dressed in clothes and a costume.

Police took the robot from the boot of a car near a fast-food restaurant and also seized mobile phones. The suspects were a 16-year-old believed to own the robot and a 19-year-old companion, who allegedly streamed the incident online.

At the time of the AP report neither had been charged. Investigators were still checking whether the movements had been programmed in advance or controlled live. A police spokesman said the force had not come across this kind of case before.

The case shows a gap that technical safety standards do not cover. A small robot that moves without trouble can become a tool for harassment when the person controlling it means harm. At events, who operates the robot and how they are supervised matters as much as the machine.

A lawsuit about impact forces: Gruendel v. Figure AI

In November 2025 Robert Gruendel, a robotics safety engineer, sued Figure AI in federal court in the Northern District of California. In January 2025 heise had reported that Gruendel, then Figure's chief safety engineer, was presenting a new Center for the Advancement of Humanoid Safety.

According to Gizmodo's account of the complaint, Gruendel alleges three things. First, he says the company had no formal incident-reporting or risk-assessment process when he joined. He says impact tests showed the robot could strike with more than twice the force needed to fracture an adult skull. And he says a malfunctioning robot left a quarter-inch gash in a steel refrigerator door near an employee.

Gruendel says he was fired in September 2025 after raising these concerns. Figure told Gizmodo he was dismissed for poor performance and called the claims falsehoods it would discredit in court.

These are allegations that no court has decided. Their wider point stands regardless: a full-size humanoid has motors strong enough to cause serious injury if it moves unexpectedly near a person.

The patterns behind the cases

Taken together, the reported incidents point to a few repeated risks:

• Loss of balance. Walking humanoids fall, often during demonstrations, and a falling robot is a heavy object.
• Unexpected motion. Software faults can cause sudden, forceful movement, as in the H1 video.
• Stopping at speed. Fast-moving robots may not be able to brake in time, so space and padding matter.
• The human operator. Remote control or preset routines can be misused, so who holds the controller matters.
• Little transparency. Few companies publish incident data, so the public record is incomplete.

Standards are starting to address the first three points. Our article on ISO 25785-1 for legged robots explains what is being drafted. This article is general information, not legal advice.

What this means for event organisers

• Plan for falls. Keep a clear zone around any walking humanoid. Ask the supplier how large it should be and how they handle a fall. Our guide to safety at public events gives a planning checklist.
• Insist on an emergency stop within reach. In the H1 case it was the quick shutdown, not the robot's own safeguards, that ended the incident.
• Know who is in control. Ask whether the robot will be operated remotely or run preset routines, and who the trained operator is. See our guide on operators and staffing.
• Avoid speed near crowds. Running, jumping or fast choreography belongs behind barriers, not among visitors.
• Check cover before the day. Confirm in writing who is liable if the robot falls on someone or damages property, as set out in our guide to insurance and liability for robot hire.

Frequently asked questions

Has a humanoid robot seriously injured a member of the public?

None of the cases reviewed here, all reported by named news organisations, includes a confirmed serious injury to a member of the public. The 2026 Cologne case involved alleged harassment of a teenager using a robot, and police were investigating the two young men believed to control it. Most other reported incidents were falls, test-rig malfunctions or crashes in competitions. Testing happens mostly out of public view, so the public record is incomplete.

Why do humanoid robots fall over so often at events?

Walking on two legs means constantly correcting balance. New stage surfaces, cables, slopes, bright lights, crowds and short setup times all make that harder. Fast movement adds momentum that a robot may not be able to stop safely, as seen in the 2026 Beijing races. Falls in themselves are expected during development. The risk at events comes from how close people are standing when a fall happens.

What did the Figure AI whistleblower lawsuit allege?

Robert Gruendel, formerly Figure's chief safety engineer, filed suit in federal court in California in November 2025. As reported, he alleges the company lacked formal incident-reporting processes, that tests showed its robot could strike hard enough to fracture a skull, and that he was fired for raising concerns. Figure says he was dismissed for poor performance and denies the claims. No court has ruled on them.

What safety measures helped in the documented incidents?

The measures that worked were simple ones: distance between people and the robot, a fast way to cut power, and physical barriers. In the Unitree H1 test video, engineers stepped back and one switched the robot off. At the 2026 World Humanoid Robot Games, crash pads stopped sprinters after the finish line. For events, these become a clear exclusion zone, an emergency stop within reach and a trained operator present.

How this article was made: written by the humanoid4rent editorial team with AI assistance; every factual statement was checked against the sources listed below on 2026-11-02. Spotted an error? Write to info@humanoid4rent.com.