Employees had to restrain a dancing humanoid robot after it went wild at a California restaurant

A dancing robot at a Haidilao hot pot restaurant in Cupertino got a little too enthusiastic with its moves, smashing plates and flinging dishware everywhere as three employees scrambled to restrain its gyrating arms. The mechanical performer, likely an AgiBot X2 model, had been brought closer to diners at their request when space constraints turned its routine into what could only be described as robotic moshing.

The incident highlights an unexpected hazard as restaurants increasingly deploy entertainment robots. Hot pot dining involves scalding broths that could cause serious burns if knocked over by an overzealous automaton.

Haidilao downplayed the chaos, telling NBC News the robot wasn't malfunctioning but simply operating outside its typical parameters. "The limited space affected its movement during the performance," the Chinese chain explained.

While we worry about AI controlling nuclear weapons, perhaps we should first figure out kill switches for disco-dancing droids before someone gets seriously hurt by a robot that took "break a leg" too literally.