Robo Puppy commencing two hour yipping session.
It seems that both politicians as well as residents were not happy with the NYPD’s usage of Boston Dynamics’ Spot robot dog. Per the New York Times, the department’s lease on the robot has been terminated, and it will return to the company that built it.
Initially, the NYPD had planned to keep testing Spot until the lease was up in August. John Miller, the NYPD’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism stated that the decision to cancel the lease came after Spot (or as the department called it, Digidog) became a target to people who “had improperly used it to fuel arguments about race and surveillance.” The robot also raised several privacy concerns among critics, after having been deployed to several crime scenes since October of last year. Bill Neidhardt, a spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio, said to the times:
[I’m] glad the Digidog was put down. [Spot/Digidog] creepy, alienating and sends the wrong message to New Yorkers.Bill Neidhardt, Mayor Bill de Blasio spokesman
Creepy, alienating and sends the wrong message to New Yorkers? Isn’t that also an apt description of Bill de Blasio? Or am I thinking of a different mayor?
Anyway, before canceling the lease on April 22, the NYPD planned to spend $94,000 on the lease. Coincidentally, buying a Boston Dynamics Spot outright costs $75,000. Wow, New Yorkers, your city sure does respect your tax money.
Source: Engadget
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