The New York Police Department has ended a contract with Boston Dynamics, parting ways with the high-tech robot police dog after it drew massive negative attention online and caused a City Council subpoena.
The department has stopped leasing the “Digidog” from Boston Dynamics, a spokesperson told the New York Post on Wednesday, adding that the dog will be returned.
The news comes after a Twitter video of the police robot dog patrolling the streets went viral.
The clip caused massive backlash online, where people drew comparisons to TV series “Black Mirror,” which depicts dystopian future.
Nah they really got these robot police dogs in NYC. This is wild pic.twitter.com/iG7CTPFevH
— THEE DON❤️🔥 (@1800SPOILED) April 12, 2021
As a result, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio urged the police to “rethink” its use of the robot and after that City Council leaders decided to subpoena the NYPD to find out its cost.
The dog also drew attention from the Capitol, with Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calling the electronic dog a “robotic surveillance ground drone”.
The NYPD’s deputy commissioner for intelligence and counterterrorism said that the lease on the robot that was due to end in August was terminated after the dog became a “target”, with people improperly using the dog to fuel arguments about race and surveillance, the New York Times said.
“People had figured out the catchphrases and the language to somehow make this evil,” Miller added.
The viral patrolling video was not the first time the robot pup was captured on duty. Previously a clip pictured the cynoid entering the scene in a home invasion and hostage situation.
