TikTok robot star Rizzbot gave me the middle finger

The article recounts the author's unusual experience with Rizzbot, a popular humanoid robot known for its TikTok presence and charismatic persona, who unexpectedly sent the author a photo of itself giving the middle finger after the author missed a deadline to send interview questions. Rizzbot, which blends humor, flirting, and street-style charisma, has gained significant online attention but also embodies broader societal tensions around humanoid robots, including discomfort, privacy concerns, and job displacement fears. The author initially saw Rizzbot as a potential role model for making humanoids more approachable but was blocked after the incident, highlighting the blurred lines between AI autonomy and human control. Further investigation revealed that Rizzbot, also known as Jake the Robot, is a Unitree G1 Model robot operated remotely by an anonymous owner, with training and programming support from a robotics PhD student at UT Austin. While much of Rizzbot’s behavior is pre-programmed, it is controlled in real-time by a human operator, complic