War Robot Put On a 30-Minute DJ Set at a California Club

A robot designed for war recently performed a DJ set at a nightclub in San Francisco, because modern-day headlines have become indistinguishable from the premises of science fiction movies from the late 80s.

Phantom is a humanoid robot created by Foundation Robotics Labs, and Timothy Karoff of SFGate watched it as it performed. War is one of its many applications, as the company’s customers include the Department of Defense, warehouses, and auto manufacturers.

However, its primary focus is building robots for national defense, as it is the only robotics company in the United States currently building humanoids for military purposes.

Robot Designed For War Put On A 30 Minute DJ Set At A San Francisco Nightclub

To demonstrate that his robots are multidisciplinary, Foundation Robotics Labs cofounder Mike LeBlanc programmed one of these military bots to perform a 30-minute DJ set on the main stage of Temple nightclub in San Francisco during an event called the “Tech Giga Party”, which was part of an AI trade expo.

By all accounts, Phantom put on a good set. It kept the beat pumping steadily throughout and nailed the transitions between tracks so there wasn’t a moment of respite, though apparently, its fist pumps were a little offbeat. But I guess that’s a better fate than the thing being programmed to beat you to death with its preposterous robot strength.

Robots like Phantom are already being used by the US military but in noncombat roles, like maintenance and the refueling of aircraft in remote areas. With its DJ set a success, maybe it’ll perform for soldiers of the USO show, perhaps wearing a skimpy outfit to tantalize our boys fighting the good fight overseas.

It’s hard to imagine this DJ set as anything more than the laundering of a company’s image that may one day be associated with building machines killing people abroad while lifting boxes and throwing parties back home.