Bomb Threat at Oregon State University: People asked to avoid food delivery robots

Oregon State University issued a bomb threat warning related to their robot food delivery system, advising the campus community to avoid the robots.

A bomb threat has been received at Oregon State University (OSU) in relation to the university’s robot food delivery system. On Tuesday, OSU issued an urgent advisory, asking all individuals on campus to avoid these automated robots and not to open them.

The advisory, which was released at 12:20 p.m. on Tuesday on the school’s official Twitter account, particularly warned against engaging with the Starship food delivery robots. “Urgent OSU Alert: Bomb Threat in Starship food delivery robots,” read the warning from OSU. “ Do not open robots. Avoid all robots until further notice. Public Safety is responding.”

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These Starship Technologies robots have become a frequent sight on the Ohio State campus, where they aid food delivery to students, staff, and teachers who place orders using the Starship app. OSU launched a revolutionary meal delivery system in 2020, with a fleet of 20 delivery robots. These robots, which are equipped with GPS navigation and inbuilt sensors to navigate barriers and sidewalks, have made life easier for the college community.

On this worrying occasion, however, the robots that formerly delivered meals have become the focal point of a potential security issue. It didn’t take long for OSU to respond. They had successfully isolated the robots to secure locations at 12:59 p.m.

The statement from OSU to the campus community underlined the need of keeping paying attention to any suspicious activities. The university felt compelled to separate these automated food delivery robots, emphasizing the gravity of the situation.

As of now, Starship, the corporation responsible for creating the robots, has not responded to the bomb threat event.

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Authorities continue to investigate the threat, while the campus community awaits further updates on the situation.