A robot startup is wreaking havoc on short-term rentals in San Francisco — Airbnb hosts allege 'guests' secretly tested robots indoors, left the units completely trashed

Tech Industry A robot startup is wreaking havoc on short-term rentals in San Francisco — Airbnb hosts allege 'guests' secretly tested robots indoors, left the units completely trashed News By Hassam Nasir published 30 May 2026 A $12,000 lawsuit has been filed by one of the hosts. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works . (Image credit: Getty Images) Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Email Share this article 1 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter A $2 billion San Fransico startup called "The Bot Company" seems to be secretly testing robots in short-term rentals . Multiple Airbnb hosts report their units have been left in poor condition, with similar signs of damage forming a pattern across the area. One host in particular, Sean Donovan, is even suing for $12,383.50 in damages and lost income stemming from a commercial booking. The Bot Company hasn't responded so far. The story starts with Sean accepting an 11-night stay for 8 people in April. Everything seemed fine at first, but when the host went to take out the trash, he found a deluge of black wires inside and a person sitting next to what appeared to be a robot. Ring camera security footage further revealed that large black cases were regularly siphoned in and out of the house, likely carrying testing equipment. After checkout, Sean found his place to be completely trashed. The furniture was stained; the dishwasher was damaged; the bathroom tiles had cracked; an entire shoe rack was gone, and the crockery was found everywhere but the kitchen cabinets it came from. After some digging, Sean discovered he wasn't the only one affected by such careless guests. In fact, several properties in the areas seemed to have been graced by the presence of these robot testers. Latest Videos From You may like News site linked to OpenAI super PAC sent bots posing