ICE wants robot dogs. Boston Dynamics' workers urge company to 'cancel the sale'

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Boston Dynamics' Spot robot walks around during a demonstration at company's facility in Waltham in 2024. (Josh Reynolds/AP)

Dozens of Boston Dynamics employees are calling on the company to stop the sale of its AI-powered robot dogs to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Known as "Spot," Boston Dynamics' robots are dog-like autonomous machines with four legs that can climb stairs and do backflips. They're equipped with cameras and sensors.

The company faced some backlash in late August, when it was first revealed that the Department of Homeland Security planned to purchase the robots. A $1.3 million contract with ICE was settled in September for the sale of four robot dogs and other Spot technology.

Employees wrote in a petition, obtained by WBUR and sent in early September to company leadership, that the sale hurts Boston Dynamics' image and "presents us as working directly with ICE" as the agency has "worked to sow fear" across the country.

A Boston Dynamics spokesperson confirmed the petition Friday, but said "nearly half" of its 300 signatures were entered as "Anonymous." The company employs more than 1,500 people.

"We cannot be proud of working at [Boston Dynamics] when that work is being used by a government agency that brutalizes civilians, including some of our own colleagues ... ," the petition read.

ICE previously said the robots would give them an additional safety tool that can "provide real-time situational awareness in hazardous, confined, or tactically uncertain environments" before agents are sent to a scene. The agency had added the robot dogs wouldn't replace "human judgment" from its law enforcement officers.

Boston Dynamics argues the dogs are being sold to ICE's Homeland Security Investigations unit, which primarily focuses on transnational criminal matters — not removal operations.

But Boston Dynamics employees said in the letter that the risk to the company is "too great to continue with this deal," adding it could cause staffers to quit or turn away potential new hires.

"Our public-facing teams have received external emails concerned about this deal," the petition read. "Many of us have gotten messages from friends and family, asking us in disbelief and horror if this news is true, and how we can live with ourselves if it is."

In a letter to employees, Boston Dynamics interim CEO Amanda McMaster wrote that after considering the petition, the company is standing by its decision to sell the robots to ICE.

McMaster said customers must comply with the company's terms and conditions for sale, which "prohibit any attempts to weaponize our robot or use it for purposes of harm or intimidation."

"I ask you to respect and accept this decision, even if you do not agree with it," McMaster wrote.

The company's ethical principles state "if our products are being used for harm, we will take appropriate measures to mitigate that misuse." However, it's unclear what those mitigation measures would be.