San Francisco woman hires $30-an-hour humanoid robot to make her bed, clean bathroom and vacuum while she controls it from sofa

A San Francisco woman has taken household cleaning into the future, hiring a humanoid robot for $30 an hour to clean her apartment while she controlled the machine remotely from the comfort of her sofa. The unusual experiment, which saw the robot tackle chores around her home, has now sparked a wider debate over the future of housework, automation and human jobs.

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She paid $30 for a robot to clean her home

Gianna Capezio hired a humanoid robot from Tau Robotics on Friday, August 21, to work inside her San Francisco apartment. During the one-hour session, the robot vacuumed, made her bed and cleaned her bathroom. It also wiped down surfaces around the apartment. Capezio shared a video of the experience, which quickly attracted attention online. While Capezio admits her mechanical housekeeper wasn’t exactly speedy, she was satisfied with the results.


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But the robot wasn't completely independent. A human was actually controlling the robot. Despite looking like a futuristic autonomous housekeeper, the robot was remotely operated by a human using cameras on the machine, with AI assisting the system.

“The robot was teleoperated by a Tau Robotics operator, it was not running autonomously,” Capezio told Storyful. Capezio admitted the robot wasn't particularly fast, saying it was “slower than a person would have been,” but she was still happy with the results. She described its work as a “solid job” and said she didn't have to redo anything after the robot finished cleaning.

It was “slower than a person would have been,” she told PEOPLE, but still did a “solid job.” Capezio adds that she didn’t have to redo any of the robot’s work after it finished.

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Viewers were divided over the $30 robot cleaner

The video quickly turned into a debate about whether a humanoid robot is actually worth paying for when a human cleaner could potentially do the same work faster. One commenter criticized the robot's technique, writing: “The way it skimmed across that countertop... I’ll pass��,”

Another person simply wrote: “Too slow �� I’ll do it myself.” Others raised a bigger concern: what happens to human workers if robots eventually take over more household jobs?

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One commenter wrote: “Well good job taking a humans income to support a robot.” Another added: “Ridiculous! Robots: go away!!! Humans need jobs NOT robots!”

Is this the future of home cleaning?

Tau Robotics currently offers its robot service on an invite-only basis, with robots designed to handle tasks such as house cleaning, deep cleaning and office cleaning.

For now, the technology still requires a person behind the scenes. But Capezio's experience has raised a bigger question: could remotely operated humanoid robots eventually become a normal part of everyday household life?

For $30 an hour, at least one San Francisco resident has already given the idea a try.