DeepMind partner's dishwashing humanoid fools viewers before founder admits it's fake

A glossy social media video showing a humanoid robot washing dishes led some viewers to think they were seeing a real breakthrough in robotics. But users quickly called it out as fake, pointing out inconsistencies in the footage and prompting questions about the robotics company behind it.

What happened?

According to a report from Futurism, Qualia, a robotics software company linked to Google DeepMind's Robotics Program, shared a video on the social platform X of a humanlike robot cleaning dishes. Because the motion appeared unusually realistic, many people in the replies questioned whether the machine itself actually existed.

Qualia has been selected for the @GoogleDeepMind Robotics Program.

We train embodied models that put a robot on a real manual task and make it work, on the floor, not in a demo.

Foundation models and reasoning are where robotics is heading, and doing that work alongside… pic.twitter.com/y8k53BBXFQ

— Qualia (@QualiaRobotics) June 9, 2026

The company framed the post as a serious demonstration, writing: "We train embodied models that put a robot on a real manual task and make it work, on the floor, not in a demo."

In a Reddit post, viewers debated whether they were seeing an actual robot in an actual kitchen, artificial intelligence-generated footage, or another visual fabrication.

Futurism noted the answer eventually came from Qualia founder Fabian Kerj after one user on X asked, "Is this a real collab and if so what is it?" Kerj replied: "The humanoid is not a real robot — we build training infra — not hardware."

Why does it matter?

The episode points to a growing credibility problem in robotics and AI. When companies use cinematic marketing to suggest capabilities they do not actually have, it can distort public understanding, mislead investors, and make it harder to separate legitimate innovation from attention-grabbing stunts.

That worry lands in an industry with a history of overblown reveals, including Tesla's much-criticized 2021 humanoid-robot presentation, which featured a person in a bodysuit.

The episode also raises questions about transparency as AI becomes more closely tied to the economy and the energy grid.

Flashy AI claims can shape trust, investment, policy, and the speed at which genuinely useful tools reach homes and workplaces.

What are people saying?

Reddit users reacted harshly. One wrote: "isn't that, like, misleading?"

"If you're a robotics company you shouldn't be making promo videos with a human in a costume," another said. 

"C3PO was more convincing," another user joked, referring to the Star Wars robot.

Get TCD's free newsletters for easy tips, smart advice, and a chance to earn $5,000 toward home upgrades. To see more stories like this one, change your Google preferences here.