Hundreds of employees at the US robotics firm Boston Dynamics signed a petition calling for executives to halt a sale of the company’s robot dogs to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement—but executives stood by the deal, while saying the robots would not be weaponized.
On September 25, the Department of Homeland Security [contract awarded $1.3 million](https://sam.gov/workspace/contract/opp/d302c9fa6d234522ad2e0a63c8638177/view) to a Connecticut company called Radeco to provide ICE with modified versions of Boston Dynamics’ quadruped robots. But Boston Dynamics workers sent the [petition letter](https://media.wbur.org/wp/2026/10/boston-dynamics-letter.jpg) with more than 300 signatures—half of them anonymous—to the company’s executives in early September and shared copies with [The Boston Globe](https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/10/23/business/ice-spot-boston-dynamics-sale-workers/) and [WBUR public radio station](https://www.wbur.org/news/2026/10/23/boston-dynamics-employees-petition-dhs).
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The ICE contract covers the purchase of four [Boston Dynamics Spot robots](https://bostondynamics.com/products/spot/) that were modified by Radeco to be marketed as a [robot platform named Cerberus](https://radecoinc.com/products/cerberus-qugv/). The contract describes these Cerberus robots as being intended to “detect radiation, toxic gas leaks and explosive threats in urban environments or disaster zones,” along with enabling other remote observation and inspection missions.
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The Cerberus robot dog would come with an optional Spot robotic arm that enables it to manipulate objects and open doors, along with providing additional camera views when extended. The ICE contract describes the robot as being generally capable of navigating complex industrial environments on its own and executing “repeatable autonomous missions with minimal human intervention.”
Such a purchase was justified in the ICE contract as supporting the Homeland Security Task Forces’ mission to carry out “counter-illicit cross-border tunnel operations” and dismantling “cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks” being conducted by “criminal cartels, foreign gangs and transnational criminal organizations throughout the United States.”
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“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 at Hyundai,” according to the employee petition. “All elements of the ICE organization, not just Enforcement & Removal Operations, have worked to sow fear among all people living in this country.”
but executives stood by the deal, while saying the robots would not be weaponized
Even if that was the only problem, even if they signed a paper agreeing to penalties if that claim was broken; I still wouldn't want it or believe them.
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