San Francisco Homes Now Cleaned by Humanoid Robots for $30

The robots, which stand about the height of an adult, vacuum floors, wipe surfaces, and perform other chores under the watch of a human operator working from a remote location. The operator steers the machine through each room, while onboard AI assists with navigation and specific tasks, according to the company.

CEO Hans Koch said current AI is not advanced enough for a robot to clean an entire home on its own. The hybrid setup, he explained, lets the machines handle real-world environments while collecting data to train future autonomous models.

Customers must stay on-site during the session. The robots do not follow pre-programmed routes; instead, operators and AI adapt to each home or office layout in real time. Videos released by Tau Robotics show a robot stepping out of a minivan, entering a property, and carrying out cleaning duties.

The service has drawn mixed reactions. Ken Goldberg, a robotics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, questioned whether humanoid robots are ready for the complexity of household cleaning. Privacy advocates have flagged the continuous video recording, which is used to train Tau's AI. Some residents say they would rather hire a human cleaner for the same rate, while others find the robots' human-like appearance unsettling.

Tau Robotics acknowledges the current limitations but frames the service as a stepping stone. The company's larger goal is to build affordable humanoid robots that can clean entire homes with minimal human help, a shift it believes could transform the home services industry.