Vice obtained developer documents and recordings of video meetings from Amazon to confirm that the engineers behind Amazon's $999 robot weren't happy with the final product.
The Astro was recently introduced by e-retailer. This robot is two-wheeled and can keep track of your activities and spy on anyone who enters your home.
Even if you agree to this troubling premise the bots developers were apparently not happy with the final product.
According to Vice, Astro is a terrible person and would almost certainly fall down a flight stairs if given the chance, a developer who was not identified said. In-home security is laughable because the person detection is not reliable at all.
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The developer said that the device felt fragile for an item of such absurd price.
Vices source also criticised the device's marketing as an accessibility tool, telling the outlet that it was absurdist marketing and potentially dangerous for anyone who relied on it for accessibility.
Another source, who was also involved in the project, called it a disaster not ready to release. He noted that they often break down and almost certainly will fall down stairs in real-world users' homes.
Kristy Schmidt, senior PR manager, called the allegations false and stated that the robot had been subject to rigorous testing, including thousands of hours of testing in beta with participants.
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It's almost poetic: A highly intrusive robot determined to throw itself down a flight stairs.
Astro is the future we have been warning about for years. It's a fully autonomous robot that actively monitors strangers. Astro was developed by a company who has made its success on gathering as much information from customers as possible.
It is unlikely to sell out due to its high price.
READ MORE: Amazons Astro Robot Tracks Everything you Do [Vice]
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