The Pulse
More Than 300 Boston Dynamics Workers Challenge ICE Robot-Dog Deal
More than 300 Boston Dynamics employees have urged executives to stop a deal supplying ICE with four modified Spot robots. The company says it will proceed and points to restrictions against using the machines to harm or intimidate people.
AI.info Team · Written with AI · fact-checked ·
“We believe this decision is in line with our purpose of ethically advancing intelligent machines in service of humanity.”
Amanda McMaster, former interim chief executive of Boston Dynamics
Boston Dynamics is standing by its plan to supply robots for use by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, despite a petition signed by more than 300 of its employees urging executives to stop the deal. The petition, sent to company leadership in September and reported on October 26, warns that the sale could damage the company’s reputation and make it harder to hire and retain workers. About half of the signatories left their names off the letter.
Four Spot robots, modified by Radeco
The contract is not directly between ICE and Boston Dynamics. The Department of Homeland Security awarded $1.3 million to Connecticut-based Radeco on September 25 to provide ICE with four modified Boston Dynamics Spot robots, marketed by Radeco as Cerberus. Boston Dynamics is expected to provide technical support, according to reporting by The Boston Globe.
The contract describes the machines as tools for remote observation and inspection, including detection of radiation, toxic gas leaks and explosive threats. The modified platform includes thermal imaging, 360-degree cameras and an oxygen sensor intended to check air quality in confined spaces such as tunnels. An optional robotic arm can open doors and manipulate objects; the contract also describes the robot as capable of carrying out repeatable autonomous missions with limited human intervention.
ICE’s stated rationale centers on tunnel operations and assessing hazards before personnel enter. The employee letter objects to the agency’s broader record, not only to the robot’s intended tasks. Its signatories cite the September 2025 workplace raid at Hyundai Motor Group’s Georgia Metaplant, where immigration officers detained 475 people, most of them South Korean workers.
Workers say the buyer changes the meaning of the work
“We cannot be proud of working at BD when that work is being used by a government agency that brutalizes civilians,” the employees wrote. They say the deal makes them appear to be working directly with ICE, even though Radeco holds the contract. The letter also warns that the company could lose teammates and become a less attractive employer.
Boston Dynamics employs about 1,400 people, making the signatories a minority of its workforce. The company is also planning a $100 million robotics and AI facility in Waltham, Massachusetts, and says the project is expected to create 1,250 jobs by 2033. The employees’ concern is therefore tied both to the company’s public standing and to its ability to build a larger team.
Boston Dynamics points to restrictions on misuse
McMaster’s email asked employees to accept the decision even if they disagreed, and said the company was standing behind the sale and other potential sales to government customers. Boston Dynamics says its Spot sales terms bar intentional use of the product to harm or intimidate people or animals, or as a weapon. A company spokesperson said it would take action against customers who violated those conditions, including ending software updates or licenses and pursuing legal remedies.
The company also said it had not found cases of its Department of Homeland Security or public-safety customers violating the terms. That assurance does not answer the workers’ central objection: the petition argues that ICE’s activities make the association itself unacceptable, while Boston Dynamics says the restrictions and the robots’ safety role justify proceeding. The Radeco contract is for four Spot units; the employees’ request to halt it has not changed the company’s position.
