The robot that went on the fritz while dancing at Haidilao in California was in 'celebration mode,' the restaurant says
credit should read Sun Zhongnan / Costfoto/Future Publishing via Getty Images
- A dancing robot at Haidilao in California nailed its routine and refused to stop.
- A video of staff trying to restrain the robot went viral on social media.
- A Haidilao representative told BI the robot was in "celebration mode."
One dancing robot at a California hotpot restaurant was not sorry for party rocking.
The video went viral on both Chinese social media and platforms like X this week, showing a robot at a Haidilao outlet performing a choreographed dance to a peak millennial Chinese song, "Love You" by Cyndi Wang.
Several seconds after its dance, the robot defied its human overlords. It had dutifully performed its dance moves, but it did not want to stop.
Staff at the Haidilao restaurant swung into action, trying to restrain it and stop it from dancing more.
But the robot wasn't done — and dance, it did, like a drunk person in the last hours of wild night out in Vegas.
Throughout the entire dust-up, the robot's cheerful, programmed digital smile never faded. That tracks — its apron read, after all: "I'M GOOD."
Business Insider got in touch with a Haidilao representative, who told us that the dancing feature is a "built-in, pre-programmed feature" of its robots. The restaurant has food delivery robots in action to help staff move dishes, but this specific model is geared toward entertaining customers and designed to "enhance the dining atmosphere."
"Its primary roles include 'celebration modes' where it performs coordinated movements to music for birthdays and other special events," the Haidilao spokesperson said.
"Currently, this is the only Haidilao location in the US to feature this robot," the spokesperson said, adding that the restaurant is "located in the heart of Silicon Valley, a perfect site to pilot this technology to align with the area's innovative spirit."
Humanoid robots have had their share of stumbles.
XPeng's Iron collapsed face-first during its first public debut in China earlier this year. Its CEO, He Xiaopeng, later wrote it off as part of the robot "learning to walk."
In January, a Unitree humanoid kicked an engineer in the groin during testing. In another high-profile showing, humanoid robots tripped and fell while racing against humans in a Beijing half-marathon last April.