A Starship robot stands by at George Mason University campus in Fairfax, Va., Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019. (AP Photo/Matthew Barakatm, File)
Oregon State University warned people on campus Tuesday not to open any food delivery robots because of a bomb threat.
University officials at the Corvallis, Oregon, campus at lunchtime sent out what they called an urgent alert on X, formerly known as Twitter, that there was a bomb threat in Starship food delivery robots.
“Do not open robots,” the post said. “Avoid all robots until further notice.”
The post said campus public safety officials were responding.
The university said about an hour later that the robots had been isolated in a safe location and that technicians were investigating. Campus public safety's investigation is ongoing.
The Associated Press has sent messages to the university seeking more information. A spokesperson for the Corvallis Police Department said their department is not involved in the investigation.
About 20 small Starship delivery robots began bringing food orders to students, staff, and faculty, in 2020, KOIN-TV reported.
“You unlock it, get your food and then off it goes to get sanitized and prepare for another delivery,” Kerry Paterson, director of OSU’s residential dining and university catering, told the news outlet at the time.
San Francisco-based Starship Technologies said on X earlier this month that the robots had rolled onto nearly 50 college campuses in the U.S., serving over 1 million students.
Starship Technologies didn't immediately respond to an email seeking comment.
Updated October 24, 2023 at 4:53 p.m. ET with the latest details.
Twitter is planning to pivot to video content, according to Reuters. Cheddar News explains how the tech giant looks to double down on video, creative and e-commerce strategies.
Twitter has a new plan for success, and it involves an old strategy. According to a recent report from Reuters, the platform plans to pivot to video, and Cheddar News Senior Reporter Michelle Castillo is here to talk about what video means for twitter’s future.
A hovercraft traveling from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia became a beachside attraction when it was deliberately run aground after suffering a 3-foot tear in its skirt.
Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing how people work, including in creative industries. The famous Tribeca Film Festival featured some projects recently that used A.I. that some filmmakers say make it more creative. Cheddar News took a peek at some of those films.
The Department of Energy and several other federal agencies were compromised in a Russian cyber-extortion gang's global hack of a file-transfer program popular with corporations and governments, but the impact was not expected to be great, Homeland Security officials said Thursday.
Rivian is expanding into New York City and launching its first showroom there. Cheddar News took a look at the showroom in NYC that the company is calling "spaces," which is intended to be experiential retail locations to woo new customers.