Google’s 160-pound robot dog will scare the bejesus out of you

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Google-owned robotics firm Boston Dynamics is no stranger to creating robotic beasts that can do freakish feats, but their latest robotic quadruped — a 160-pound doglike machine named Spot — takes the crazy factor to an all new level with a smaller, nimbler, more-kickable form factor.

To be perfectly honest, Spot scares the hell out of me. When Elon Musk warned about the possibility of humans becoming slaves to AI, this is what I imagined — legions of weird-looking robots that can go anywhere to hunt you down and put you in your place. Spot doesn’t feature any futuristic weapons to punish his human masters, but the cybernetic canine has some serious skills when it comes to exploring difficult terrain and balancing.

If you don’t think the robot threat is real, here are six GIFs of Spot in action that might change your mind:

Spot can climb up anything

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He can’t be beat in a fight

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Stairs are no match for his superior dexterity

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Seriously, imagine this guy hunting you in the woods

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He plays well with other robot dogs too

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You scared yet?

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Seriously though, the technology going into Spot is absolutely incredible and could be really useful in an assistive role to humans. How Google is going to make money with these robots is still anyone’s guess, but with other robots that can run as fast as a Cheetah, they’re nearly ready to give the animal kingdom a run for its money.

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