The robot is more than just a cool toy, Snowden explained while giving a speech, it is also capable of subverting governments.
“This is the power of Beam, or more broadly the power of technology,” he said in an onstage interview with Peter Diamandis, the Guardian reported. “The FBI can’t arrest a robot.”
Ben Wizner of the American Civil Liberties Union, Snowden’s lawyer, told the Guardian that he was not compensated for appearing at the event, but that he has benefitted from using the technology, as he is currently under asylum in Russia and wanted by the United States government.
“He’s used it to roll out into the hallway and generously interact with large numbers of ACLU staff,” Wizner previously told Wired magazine. “I think it can be a profound response to exile.”
He also used the $16,000 robot to wheel out on to the stage for his Ted Talk in March, 2014, and Robot Snowden even has it’s own Twitter account.
— Robot Snowden (@RobotSnowden) June 12, 2014
“Beep boop I believe in transparency,” one tweet from the Robot Snowden reads. The account currently has nearly 700 followers.
“What if you could commute to work without having to sit in traffic?” Snowden asked at this week’s conference. “The US government basically cancelled my passport, but I’m sitting here in Las Vegas with you guys at CES.”
