A recent incident in Gumi City, South Korea, has garnered global attention after a robot allegedly committed “suicide.” The robot, employed as a civil servant by the Gumi City Council and nicknamed “Robot Supervisor,” was found shattered at the bottom of a staircase. Witnesses reported the robot behaving strangely before the fall, moving in circles as if it had detected something unusual.

Manufactured by Bear Robotics, the robot had been operational since August 2023, performing tasks like document delivery and information dissemination. The incident has led to speculations about the robot being overworked, though the exact cause remains under investigation.

This event has sparked discussions on the ethical implications of heavy workloads on robots and has prompted Gumi City to halt plans for introducing a second robot civil servant.