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Comment by necubi

1 day ago

Better this than the Bot Company, which has been apparently renting out AirBnBs for robot testing and leaving them trashed: https://sfstandard.com/2026/05/28/sf-startup-secretly-testin...

41 comments

necubi

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darth_avocado  13 hours ago

Actually shift should just partner with Airbnb. Airbnb takes out the cleaning fee from the app, customers benefit, owners get a free cleaning service, Airbnb wins, Shift wins. And if Airbnb invests in Shift, even better.

  • ElProlactin  7 hours ago

    > Airbnb takes out the cleaning fee from the app

    Why would they do that?

    Airbnb should invest in Shift, continue to encourage exorbitant cleaning fees, and subsidize discounts for hosts so that they're incentivized to fire their current housekeeping providers and switch to Shift.

  • imglorp  7 hours ago

    The fact that they're not partnering with Airbnb tells us what we need to know. The top of this thread is more likely now: they're interested in surveilling the people, not the buildings.

BloondAndDoom  11 hours ago

I think I’m happy for some privacy abuse oriented startup and an Airbnb landlord screwing each other. It seems like a good thing for the world.

mcmcmc  1 day ago

I mean is it? At least the AirBnB owner has some recourse, any attempt to fight exploitation from “free services” goes nowhere

kylehotchkiss  20 hours ago

At least the AirBnB owners got paid to have their homes mutalated by robots

  • ceejayoz  19 hours ago

    If they’re suing, that seems to be insufficient.

    Among other issues, it likely causes knock-on problems for tomorrow’s reservations.

bluGill  20 hours ago

After thinking about this for a while, I'm not sure it really happened. It wouldn't surprise me if the house was not trashed, just a landlord manipulating evidence when they think they can make money in court. There is no particular reason to trust either side and we have not seen what evidence really exists. In particular the reporters didn't do a good job of digging in - at the very least where is the response from the Bot Company?

  • MadnessASAP  14 hours ago

    A company operating above board would be sure to carefully document the state of the rental before and after whatever work they were doing. Any tradesperson/installer/technician/repair person will have tales of how they were accused of stealing grandmas wedding ring from the bottom of the sock drawer while repairing a leak in the kitchen.

    So either Bot Company damaged property and is trying to pretend they didn't. Or they are incompetent and failed to document the state of the property or handle the owners complaints appropriately.

    Given that their training robots and would therefore be collecting as much data as possible, including camera data, I'm leaning towards malice instead of ignorance.

  • stbtrax  19 hours ago

    I don't entirely doubt the landlord but the bizzarre part is the landlord showing up to take their trash and then somehow finding bundles of wires inside the unit. Why would an airbnb host enter the unit to take trash?

    • MobiusHorizons  17 hours ago

      That’s part of the process of resetting a property for the next reservation. It’s not bizarre, it’s literally what Airbnb landlords do (or sometimes hire other people to do, but that lowers margins)

    • chrisweekly  18 hours ago

      "Why would an airbnb host enter the unit to take trash?"

      Not every airbnb host has a professional cleaning staff, and some of those who do may sometimes wish to check the status of their property. I don't find anything strange, let alone "bizarre".

      2 replies →

    • maxbond  16 hours ago

      They said they saw the wires through the window. Presumably they didn't enter the unit.

    • TZubiri  15 hours ago

      I read that the host took the trash, which was outside the house, and through the window he saw the cables and the man with the laptop.