At around nine in the evening, a seventy-year-old woman was walking along a street in Macau while looking at her phone. Nothing unusual. But someone who definitely did not belong there was quietly walking behind her. Or rather, something. When the woman stopped, so did he. He waited. Silently. And when she finally turned around, she found herself face to face with a Unitree G1 humanoid robot. The result? Panic, screams, the police being called, and finally an ambulance.
"You're giving me a heart attack!" How it all began
Footage from the scene, which quickly spread across social media, shows the woman in a blue T-shirt and white trousers shouting at the robot and pointing her finger at it. Passersby watch with their mouths open. "You're going to give me a heart attack!" she shouted at the machine in Cantonese. "You've got plenty to do, so why are you doing this nonsense here? Are you crazy?" The robot responded in its own way. It raised its hands twice. Nothing more.
Towin Mak, a representative of the educational center that owns the robot, explained the situation to local television station TDM quite simply: the robot was leaving the area, the woman stopped to check her phone, and because it could not get around her, it simply waited behind her. No malicious intent. No attack. Just an unfortunate set of circumstances on a narrow street at night. But for the elderly woman, it was a genuine shock.
Police arrived, "arrested" the robot, and took it away
The responding police officers arrived at the scene and encountered a situation that was probably not covered in their training. One of them placed a hand on the robot's shoulder and, together with a colleague, escorted it away. Exactly as they would have done with a human suspect. The footage of this moment is downright absurd. A police officer with his hand on the robot's shoulder, the two of them walking down the street. Like humans. Almost touching. The internet immediately dubbed it the "first robot arrest in history" and went into overdrive with jokes.
Meanwhile, the woman ended up in hospital. She was not physically injured, but she experienced severe stress. She was discharged after treatment and confirmed that she would not file a complaint. Police confirmed that there had been physical contact between her and the robot, although it was apparently only fleeting. The robot was returned to its fifty-year-old owner, who received a stern warning from the authorities and subsequently apologized publicly. He admitted that the woman had probably been frightened when she turned around and saw the machine directly behind her.
A robot from Unitree Robotics
The Unitree G1 is no science-fiction invention. It is a real humanoid robot made by the Chinese company Unitree Robotics, based in Hangzhou and unveiled in May 2024. It costs approximately 13,500 dollars, or around 300,000 Czech crowns. By robotics standards, that is a relatively affordable price.
It stands 130 centimeters tall, weighs about 35 kilograms, and can move at speeds of up to two meters per second. It has a 360-degree detection camera on its face and a speaker on its chest. Thanks to its 23 to 43 joint motors from head to toe, it is reportedly more agile than the average person. Battery life? Around two hours.
The educational center used it for promotional purposes. That is exactly what is happening more and more often in Macau. Robots are becoming part of marketing, education, and public spaces.
China and robots
The Macau incident is not just a random curiosity. China is systematically testing humanoid robots in public spaces and is taking this further than anyone else.
Since November 2025, an EngineAI T800 humanoid robot has been patrolling the "Window of the World" tourist district in Shenzhen alongside police officers. In Shanghai, meanwhile, a robot named "Xiao Hu" directs traffic in Huangpu District. Robots on the streets are no longer an exception. They are becoming part of everyday life.
And that is precisely where things get complicated. Technology is advancing quickly. But the human psyche? That does not change so easily. The seventy-year-old woman in Macau experienced that firsthand.
Robots are becoming a reality
The Macau case is amusing. I admit that the footage of the police officer leading the robot away by the shoulder made me laugh too. But behind the humor lies a serious question. Society still has no clear rules governing the movement of humanoid robots in public spaces. Who is liable for harm? The owner? The manufacturer? The educational center? And what about psychological harm, as in this case?
The robot's owner received a warning and apologized. The robot was returned. The woman recovered. This time, everything ended well. But how will the situation develop once robots become a common feature of the streets? No one has an answer to that yet.
One thing is certain: the coexistence of humans and machines in public spaces is beginning right now. And Macau will go down in robotics textbooks as the place where the first robot "arrest" in history took place. However absurd it may have been.
Sources: thesun.co.uk and scmp.com
