CLAIM: A video shows a Boston Dynamics robot that has learned how to fight doing a backflip and throwing punches.
AP’S ASSESSMENT: False. The video does not show a Boston Dynamics robot, the company told The Associated Press. It shows signs of being computer generated, according to a digital forensics expert.
THE FACTS: Social media users have shared the video widely in recent days, suggesting that the robotics design company has taught one of its products to hold its own in hand-to-hand combat.
In the six-second clip, a humanoid robot standing on a dirt path does a backflip. It then moves forward while throwing three consecutive punches.
“We need to shut down Boston Dynamics until we figure out what they are up to over there,” reads one tweet.
Another tweet, which had received more than 10,000 likes and more than 1,400 shares by Tuesday, states: “I DO NOT LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING.”
While the machine in the video resembles Boston Dynamics’ humanoid Atlas robot, the company told the AP in a statement that it “is not a Boston Dynamics robot.”
The company has posted multiple videos that highlight Atlas’ advanced skills, including backflips. However, there are several key differences between Atlas and the robot in the video spreading on social media. Boston Dynamic’s name appears on Atlas’ chest, for instance, and Atlas has a number of blue parts that are not present on the other robot.
The video circulating on social media was first posted by a TikTok account whose name misspells Boston Dynamics as “Bostom_Dynamics.” The actual company does not have a TikTok channel and the video does not appear on any of its real social media accounts, including YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
The TikTok account did not respond to a comment the AP left on the video.
While it is unclear specifically how the video was created, there are multiple indications that it was computer generated.
Hany Farid, a digital forensics and misinformation expert at the University of California, Berkeley, told the AP that although he can’t say for sure how it came to be, several elements of the video are “suspect,” including that the robot moves very fast, but its motion is not blurred, and distorted color in the corners of the video.
Additionally, no debris appears on the ground when the robot jumps and walks. Such debris, according to Farid, “is difficult to accurately create with CGI.”
Boston Dynamics added in its statement that it does not permit its robots to be used for the purposes displayed in the video.
“Any attempted weaponization of Boston Dynamics’ robots is strictly prohibited, as clearly outlined in our Terms and Conditions, our ethical principles, as well as in a new open letter against weaponization, which was spearheaded by Boston Dynamics and co-signed by five other leading robotics companies,” the statement reads.
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This is part of AP’s effort to address widely shared misinformation, including work with outside companies and organizations to add factual context to misleading content that is circulating online. Learn more about fact-checking at AP.
