Investigators in Cologne are examining whether two young men deliberately controlled the humanoid machine during an incident that was reportedly livestreamed.
COLOGNE, GERMANY— German police seized a humanoid robot and two mobile phones after the machine allegedly touched a 16-year-old girl on the buttocks and made sexually suggestive movements toward her outside a fast-food restaurant, authorities said.
The unusual case unfolded shortly before midnight Oct. 10 on the Hohenzollernring, a busy nightlife area in central Cologne. Police said the girl was standing with two friends, ages 17 and 18, when the roughly 1.2-meter, or 4-foot, red-and-gold robot approached her from behind. Investigators are now trying to determine exactly how the robot was operating and whether someone deliberately directed its movements.
According to Cologne police, the suspected owner of the robot, a 16-year-old boy from Wegberg, and his 19-year-old companion allegedly filmed the encounter, livestreamed it on social media and provided commentary. Officers responding to the report found the two nearby at the intersection of Magnusstraße and Hohenzollernring. The robot had already been placed in the trunk of a Volkswagen, police said.
Officers confiscated the robot along with two mobile phones belonging to the suspects as evidence. Police said the criminal investigation is examining a suspected sexually motivated insult. The two young men are considered suspects, but authorities had not announced criminal charges against them as of Wednesday. Police have not released the names of the girl or the suspects.
A central question is whether the robot’s movements were controlled in real time, programmed in advance or produced through some other operating mode. Cologne police said investigators are examining how the machine functioned at the time of the incident and whether its movements were deliberately directed. Video recordings and material taken from the seized phones could help investigators reconstruct what happened.
The case also presents an unusual question for investigators because the alleged physical contact was carried out by a machine rather than directly by another person. German media have reported that authorities are examining which criminal laws may apply when someone allegedly uses a robot to carry out conduct that would be treated differently if performed directly by a person. Cologne police have described the investigation as involving suspected insult on a sexual basis rather than announcing a sexual-harassment charge.
Police spokesman Christoph Bermel told German broadcaster RTL that authorities had not previously encountered a case in this form and would examine it closely. Attorney Nicole Mutschke told the broadcaster that the legal distinction between contact by a person and contact by a robot could be important under German law. Investigators may also examine responsibility for filming and publishing images from the encounter, according to German reporting on the case.
The incident comes as commercially available humanoid robots become increasingly capable of walking, interacting with people and responding to human control. In this case, however, investigators have not publicly determined whether the robot independently produced any of the disputed movements. Police are focusing on the actions of the people connected to the device and the evidence showing how it was operated.
The robot remains in police custody as evidence while Cologne criminal investigators review its operation and the seized phones. Authorities have not announced charges or a timetable for completing the investigation, and the precise degree of human control over the machine during the encounter remains under examination.
Author note: Last updated October 14, 2026.