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🇵🇾 Paraguay /Technology

Humanoid robots offer cleaning services in San Francisco for $30 an hour

From ABC Color · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources New plan
  • Startup Tau Robotics has begun offering one-hour household cleaning visits by humanoid robots for $30 per robot in San Francisco.
  • The robots can vacuum, wipe kitchen counters and take out trash, while remote operators supervise them and intervene when needed.
  • Access remains invitation-only, and the company plans to reach 1,000 weekly cleanings in San Francisco by 2027 before expanding elsewhere.

For $30 an hour, San Francisco customers can reserve a humanoid robot to vacuum, wipe kitchen counters and take out the trash. Tau Robotics has launched the service with robots called Chelsea and Elon, although reservations currently require an invitation.

Each visit lasts 60 minutes and starts at the time chosen by the customer. Two robots can work during the same hour, allowing larger spaces to be cleaned. Bathrooms and bedrooms are generally off-limits, but customers can specify which rooms, areas or objects the robot should avoid.

imitate human performance

· Alex KochThe Tau Robotics chief executive described the company’s initial training goal for its robots.

The robots do not operate entirely on their own. Each service is remotely supervised by a person, and an operator can take control if a robot gets stuck. Supervisors wear virtual-reality headsets that show them the space through the robot’s eyes. Tau Robotics chief executive and co-founder Alex Koch said the initial goal was to train the machines to “imitate human performance” and eventually surpass it.

Little by little, it seems they want to replace us

· Maria RamírezThe Los Angeles cleaner described concerns among workers about humanoid robots.

Koch said each robot costs $50,000 to manufacture and uses artificial intelligence, though AI cannot yet control a humanoid robot completely. He told CBS that the company plans to increase capacity to 1,000 weekly cleanings in San Francisco by 2027, then expand to other U.S. cities and overseas in 2028.

The service reflects a wider push by appliance companies to develop household humanoid robots. South Korea’s LG recently presented LG CLOiD, designed to perform and coordinate domestic tasks through interaction with connected appliances. The prospect has unsettled cleaning workers. Maria Ramírez, an immigrant who has worked in cleaning in Los Angeles for about 25 years, said, “Little by little, it seems they want to replace us,” but added that she did not believe robots could match workers’ detailed cleaning or adapt to each customer’s preferences and needs.

I do not think they will have the ability to clean in detail like we do, or to clean the way customers like, because each person has different preferences and needs

· Maria RamírezShe questioned whether robots could replace human cleaners.
About this summary

Originally published by ABC Color in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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