· ai-devtools
Domestic droid gone amok? Don't worry, you're covered
Two insurers are teaming up to launch what every high-tech homeowner may soon need: household insurance for robotic mishaps.
Humanoid robots are tipped by some to be the next big technology trend, with industry figures like Nvidia's Jensen Huang predicting they'll be everywhere from factories to the home. But as with anything AI-driven, things can go horribly wrong, especially when automatons are roaming a home carrying out tasks.
They have even been labelled as potential "botnets in physical form." The timing may be apt, then, for the UK's first domestic humanoid robot insurance policy.
Specialist insurer Adrian Flux is offering to cover British customers as part of its home insurance range, underwritten by Texas-based Tokio Marine HCC. The two firms say the product is meant to get ahead of an emerging market, with domestic robots expected to appear in UK homes from 2027.
Demand has already appeared in the US, where robotics and AI companies have rolled out humanoid robots for the home, with early models costing around $20,000. These are less like the near-human elderly care robot in the BBC comedy series Ann Droid, and more like vaguely human-shaped machines.
