Tesla employee attacked by robot that pinned him down, drew blood: report

A Tesla was attacked by a malfunctioning robot (Representational image)

A Tesla software engineer suffered injuries when he was attacked by a malfunctioning robot on the floor of the carmaker’s Texas factory. The incident took place in 2021 but was only reported by The Information last month.

Witnesses told the publication that the engineer was programming software that controls robots at Tesla’s Austin, Texas factory. Two of the robots, which cut car parts from aluminium, were safely disabled so the engineers could work on them.

A third robot, however, was inadvertently left operational. According to two people who witnessed the attack, the robot pinned the engineer to a surface and dug its claws into his arms and back.

The robot attack left the Tesla software engineer bleeding. It only stopped after another floor worker hit the emergency stop button, enabling the software engineer to maneuver his way out of the machine’s grasp. He left a trail of blood behind him as he escaped the robot, according to one eyewitness.

An injury report was submitted to federal officials and to health authorities in Travis County, a copy of which was obtained by The Information.

The engineer suffered a “laceration, cut or open wound” on his left hand, per the report. The injury was not grave enough for him to take time off from work.

Tesla refused to comment for the story. This is hardly an isolated incident for the electric car manufacturer. According to injury reports submitted to the US Occupational Safety and Health Administration, every one in 21 workers at Tesla’s Texas factory was injured in some way or the other last year.