Tesla robot attacks engineer at Texas factory
A Tesla engineer was attacked by a robot during a malfunction at the company's Giga Texas plant near Austin.
Two witnesses watched as their colleague was attacked by a machine designed to grab and move freshly cast aluminum car parts, the Daily Mail reports.
The robot pinned down the man, who was programming two disabled Tesla robots nearby, before sinking its metal claws into the worker's back and arm, leaving a "trail of blood" on the wall.
The incident, which left the employee with an "open wound" on his left arm, was revealed in a 2021 injury report filed with Travis County and federal regulators.
Although Tesla did not report any other robot-related injuries to regulators in 2021 or 2022, the incident comes amid years of heightened concern about the risks of using automated robots in the workplace.
Reports of increased injuries due to robot coworkers in Amazon delivery centers, killer droids, self-driving cars, and even violence by robotic chess instructors have led some to question the rapid integration of the new technology.
The injury report, which Tesla is required by law to submit to authorities in order to retain its lucrative Texas tax incentives, claimed that the engineer did not request time off from work.
But one attorney representing Tesla Giga Texas contract workers said he believes, based on her conversations with workers there, that the number of injuries sustained at the plant is underreported.
