Security robots equipped with video cameras and artificial intelligence promise to deter and detect crime, but the autonomous roboguard revolution is stalling. According to a Proof News analysis of deployments since 2015, at least 13 of 21 tracked security robot programs have ended, driven by canceled contracts and questions over whether autonomous bots meet operational needs for businesses and local governments.
The Silicon Valley Pioneer Hit Hardest by Terminated Contracts
Silicon Valley-based Knightscope secured the most security robot contracts, according to Proof News, and consequently suffered the bulk of the cancellations. The company’s autonomous machines have faced a series of high-profile early retirements across the United States. In New York City, then-Mayor Eric Adams deployed a Knightscope robot on the overnight shift at the Times Square subway station. That pilot expired in 2024 and was scrapped, with city leaders failing to respond to inquiries regarding why the contract wasn’t renewed. By the conclusion of its deployment, the machine was reportedly gathering dust inside an empty storefront.
A similar fate befell a deployment outside Columbus, Ohio. The city of Dublin pulled the plug on a Knightscope robot in May, terminating a two-year pilot program after less than 10 months. Designated as DubBot, the machine was tasked with patrolling a downtown park. City spokeswoman Robyn Gray stated that the robot “did not fully meet our operational needs,” noting it failed to identify any criminal incidents or lead to a single ticket or arrest.
Local private security operators are unsurprised by these friction points. Sheila Sparks, whose family has run Sparks Protection Services near Columbus for over a decade, noted that human intuition remains essential for de-escalating sticky situations. “A robot can’t do that,” Sparks said, highlighting the limitations of current autonomous systems when dealing with volatile human behavior.
Hardware Limitations, Navigation Hurdles, and Regulatory Shifts
Robots have long struggled to navigate environments that are constantly in flux. Missy Cummings, a robotics professor at George Mason University, explained that artificial intelligence cannot effectively handle the ambiguous situations security guards and police encounter daily. While AI decision systems perform well under narrow circumstances, Cummings warned that they perform “miserably” the moment algorithms step outside their training dataset.
“AI and robots for security have had a long problematic history,” Cummings said in an email, speaking generally. “I do not see this changing anytime soon.”
The historical record supports that assessment. In 2016, a Knightscope robot operating at a Silicon Valley shopping center rolled over a 16-month-old boy’s foot. Knightscope apologized for what it called a “freakish accident,” explaining via statement that the machine veered to avoid the child, who ran backward directly into it. The following year, another Knightscope model rolled into a Washington, D.C. fountain. The company responded with humor on social media, tweeting, “BREAKING NEWS: ‘I heard humans can take a dip in the water in this heat, but robots cannot. I am sorry.'” CEO William Santana Li later characterized the incident in an interview with the New York Times as an anomaly.
Despite these engineering and operational hurdles, domestic robotics manufacturers may receive a boost from Washington. A recent U.S. Federal Communications Commission ban on foreign-made mobile robot imports frames the restriction as a national security imperative due to the surveillance capabilities embedded in these platforms.
Pivoting to Human-Robot Integration Amid Mounting Financial Pressures
Hardware restrictions and failed deployments arrive alongside significant financial headwinds for the industry leader. Knightscope has incurred net losses since its inception in 2013, according to its most recent quarterly filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, and currently carries $273 million in debt.
Seeking a fresh trajectory within the physical security sector—which Knightscope estimates is worth $230 billion annually—CEO William Santana Li announced an operational pivot. The company purchased Event Risk LLC, a national security guard firm, earlier this year. Knightscope is now crafting a model that combines its robotic hardware and AI-powered software with human security personnel.
While Li declined to answer specific questions regarding the disbanded deployments, he defended the overarching philosophy in an email: “Technology cannot do everything — and neither can people — but the combination can be very powerful.”
