Commercial robot incidents, Q2 2025
Q2 2025: 14 documented incidents involving commercial robots (+180% on the quarter before), 5 with a person hurt and 1 fatal. 4 reached a regulator, a recall or a court. Most involved Waymo (3). Largest class: autonomous vehicle (8).
Incidents are counted by the date they happened, 2025-04-01 to 2025-06-30. 0 cases were published to the register during the quarter, including older events documented for the first time. Counts measure what was reported in English and cleared verification; fleet sizes are not public, so nothing here is a rate. Rules on the methodology page. Previous quarter for comparison: Q1 2025.
By kind of machine
- Autonomous vehicle8
- Humanoid2
- Surgical2
- Consumer1
- Robot arm1
By company
- Waymo3
- Tesla2
- Unitree Robotics2
- Zoox2
- Aiper1
- Medtronic1
By outcome
- no harm5
- minor injury4
- property damage4
- fatality1
The cases that reached furthest
Ordered by severity, then by how many independent sources the case rests on.
- 2025-05-26An employee of N&C Enterprises Ltd. in Kilmeague was struck and killed by a rotating robotic arm after entering a restricted area through a retrofitted gate that bypassed the plant's safety protections.Report
- 2025-05-08An unoccupied Zoox robotaxi was struck by an electric scooter at a San Francisco intersection after braking to yield, causing the rider to fall; the robotaxi continued moving and completed a turn before stopping without making further contact with the rider, who sustained minor injuries.Recall
- 2025-06-12Medtronic issued an urgent field safety notice in Europe for its Hugo surgical robot's surgeon consoles due to potential main power supply failures, with 25 complaints received including six non-serious injuries and no serious patient harm reported.Report
- 2025-06-01A Waymo autonomous vehicle (Jaguar I-Pace) was involved in a crash with non-motorist: cyclist in San Francisco, CA, reported to NHTSA as minor w/ hospitalizationReport
- 2025-06-01A Waymo autonomous vehicle (Jaguar I-Pace) was involved in a crash with passenger car in San Francisco, CA, reported to NHTSA as minor w/ hospitalizationReport
- 2025-05-14Waymo recalled 1,212 robotaxis after NHTSA opened a probe into 16 collisions between 2022 and late 2024 in which Waymo vehicles struck chains, gates, and other roadway barriers, with no injuries reported.Recall
Whose incidents reach consequences
Share of a company's recorded incidents, across the whole register, that reached a regulator, a recall or a court. Companies with fewer than the threshold of cases are left out. Register total: 280 cases, 39 escalated.
- Zoox5/9 · 56%
- Cruise3/10 · 30%
- Tesla2/15 · 13%
- Starship Technologies1/9 · 11%
- Waymo5/69 · 7%
- Unitree Robotics0/11 · 0%
What the operators wrote in their own crash reports
1437 crash reports filed with NHTSA by 17 operators under the Standing General Order, read by theme. The federal file has one structured column for what was struck; these counts exist nowhere else.
- Emergency responders on scene, most often Waymo LLC128
- Stopped or blocking traffic, most often Waymo LLC124
- A pedestrian involved, most often Waymo LLC59
- A cyclist or scooter rider, most often Waymo LLC41
- Rear-ended by another vehicle, most often Zoox, Inc.36
- Roadworks, cones or a closure, most often Waymo LLC24
All 14 incidents dated Q2 2025
Newest first. Each one links to its timeline and to the sources it rests on. Case metadata is CC BY 4.0; cite the register by its DOI, 10.5281/zenodo.22925531.
- 2025-06-25A Tesla Robotaxi safety monitor used the In Lane Stop button on the main display to halt the autonomous vehicle and prevent a potential low-speed collision with a reversing UPS truck while the robotaxi was pulling over to a destination in Austin, Texas.Follow-up
- 2025-06-22A Tesla Robotaxi safety monitor pressed a stop button on the center touchscreen to prevent a near-collision with a reversing UPS truck as the autonomous vehicle attempted to pull into a parking spot in Austin, Texas.Report
- 2025-06-12Medtronic issued an urgent field safety notice in Europe for its Hugo surgical robot's surgeon consoles due to potential main power supply failures, with 25 complaints received including six non-serious injuries and no serious patient harm reported.Report
- 2025-06-01A Waymo autonomous vehicle (Jaguar I-Pace) was involved in a crash with non-motorist: cyclist in San Francisco, CA, reported to NHTSA as minor w/ hospitalizationReport
- 2025-06-01A Waymo autonomous vehicle (Jaguar I-Pace) was involved in a crash with passenger car in San Francisco, CA, reported to NHTSA as minor w/ hospitalizationReport
- 2025-05-26An employee of N&C Enterprises Ltd. in Kilmeague was struck and killed by a rotating robotic arm after entering a restricted area through a retrofitted gate that bypassed the plant's safety protections.Report
- 2025-05-14Waymo recalled 1,212 robotaxis after NHTSA opened a probe into 16 collisions between 2022 and late 2024 in which Waymo vehicles struck chains, gates, and other roadway barriers, with no injuries reported.Recall
- 2025-05-08An unoccupied Zoox robotaxi was struck by an electric scooter at a San Francisco intersection after braking to yield, causing the rider to fall; the robotaxi continued moving and completed a turn before stopping without making further contact with the rider, who sustained minor injuries.Recall
- 2025-05-07Amazon's Zoox recalls driverless software after a crash in Las VegasRecall
- 2025-05-07A Unitree H1 humanoid robot suspended from a crane during testing in a Chinese factory suddenly malfunctioned, flailing its limbs, dragging its stand, and knocking a computer and other items to the floor while two handlers scrambled to avoid it.Follow-up
- 2025-05-06Zoox issues software recall for 270 robotaxis following a collision in Las VegasRecall
- 2025-05-03An 'out of control' humanoid robot caused a disturbance in China, alarming engineers nearby.Follow-up
- 2025-04-12An Aiper Seagull Pro ZT6001 robotic pool vacuum cleaner caught fire while charging in Canada, prompting a Health Canada recall of 2,606 units sold between July 2023 and April 2024.Report
- 2025-04-01Class certified for purchasers in antitrust lawsuit against surgical robot manufacturerReport