The modern world we live in is filled to the brim with thoughtful conveniences that help to make our life easier. From knowledge at our fingertips thanks to the advent of the internet to electric toothbrushes to smartphones, life has never been this effortless in many ways. That said, robots are undoubtedly the next frontier in the evolution of modern tech, though it’s fair to say that it’s still in the embryonic phase, as they’re still not wholly ubiquitous quite yet. When you do see a robot out in the wild, be it an Amazon delivery bot or an automated restaurant server, it’s pretty novel, right? Well, a man was so smitten with a serving robot in a San Jose Vietnamese restaurant that he attempted to steal the robot. It didn’t quite go the way he expected it, though.
The footage of the incident was recorded by the onsite surveillance cameras, and sees a hooded man in a navy blue tracksuit and black puffer jacket picking up the robot server in a quiet restaurant in broad daylight. As he carries the heavy machine and starts to make his way to the door, however, a female employee chases after him, before a male employee attempts to intervene. While the would-be thief does make it out of the restaurant’s exit — his SUV is parked just outside in the carpark, ready to serve as the getaway vehicle — he quickly realises that the large piece of tech won’t fit in his car boot.
While the robber is confused and frustrated by the lack of space in his trunk, the two employees manage to wrestle the serving robot away from the man. With an awkward wave, the man hastily gets into his car and drives off, ending the bizarre clip.
Interestingly, the device is one of three serving robots in the Pho 21 restaurant and is allegedly worth around $18,000, according to the owner of the establishment, Tony Ngo, per ABC7News. Furthermore, Ngo also confirmed that the machine requires specific programming for it to work properly, so it would be largely unusable if it was sold to a third party.
Reactions from the internet chided the would-be thief’s actions, and couldn’t believe how poorly orchestrated his plan was. One Redditor questioned, “What was the plan after stealing it? I kinda want to hear the master plan at work here.” Amusing answers came in expressing, “I can only assume it would be something called “robo trafficking” these robots are sold into slavery.. forced to work long hours without pay” with another penning, “Probably sell it on FB marketplace“. Meanwhile, a third user quipped, “This guy must be really tired of getting up and getting his own beer…🤷♀️🤣”
While the San Jose restaurant reported the incident to the police, no officers were allegedly needed to respond the disturbance. Thankfully, there were also no injuries, and the robot was left unscathed, free to serve Pho to peckish patrons on the hunt for a hot a meal.
