Los Angeles just got a new kind of street performer—and no, it’s not your average busker or influencer. Enter “Rizzbot”, a four-foot-tall, rainbow-adorned robot sporting a brown cowboy hat and a collection of flashy dance moves that’s been roaming West Hollywood, chatting up passersby with the latest Gen Z slang. It’s part sci-fi, part pride parade, and all kinds of confusing.
Unveiled in May 2024 by Chinese company Unitree Robotics, this “AI-powered” machine, who calls himself “Jake,” has sparked a mix of amusement and bewilderment online. Covered in LGBT colors and emblazoned with the cheeky phrase “Not Elon’s Bi—” across its chest, Rizzbot is clearly pushing a woke agenda straight from the tech world’s playbook.
NBC 4 Los Angeles reports the cost of this flashy robot ranges wildly—from a few thousand dollars to nearly \$100,000, depending on add-ons. For those wondering if such a rainbow-themed robot would be out of place in LA, a local resident summed it up: “It doesn’t surprise me, no,” said West Hollywood’s Michael Fiscina. “I expect to see a parade of them in about two years at the Gay Pride parade.”
Conservative commentator Collin Rugg wasted no time posting a video of Rizzbot “confronting people” in Los Angeles, dubbing it a “gay robot.” The clip quickly stirred up a mix of reactions on social media. One user wondered aloud, “Can robots be gay? Do they even have genders? I am so confused… 😂” Another joked, “This robot was most likely given a high-profile position in Biden’s administration,” to which Rugg deadpanned, “He does walk like Biden.”
But it’s not just the rainbow colors or political leanings that make Rizzbot a spectacle—it’s the bot’s cringeworthy mastery of Gen Z slang. According to Futurism, Rizzbot approaches people with lines like, “Yo G, that sleeveless plaid shirt is straight bangin’. And you flexin’ that build like a boss, and that watch on your wrist? Iced out, nephew!”
To another, Jake complimented, “Ma homie, that beard is cold and that mustache is hard, you look clean, nephew.” And yet another passerby earned praise for their “big boss energy” and “looking hard”—all delivered with robotic charm.
Interestingly, Rizzbot has also been spotted in Austin, Texas, where it shed the pride colors but kept the Gen Z vernacular flowing. There, the same model—a Unitree G1, weighing 77 pounds—continued to bewilder locals with its uncanny slang skills.
At a base price of \$16,000 (potentially ballooning into six figures with add-ons), the G1 is described by Unitree as an “AI avatar,” but it’s quickly becoming a walking, talking emblem of woke tech culture. Whether you find it amusing, baffling, or downright absurd, Rizzbot is a stark reminder of how far tech and social politics have merged—and how deeply some of these agendas are now embedded even in robots wandering city streets.
One thing’s for sure: when a machine programmed to flex “big boss energy” and throw around “nephew” like it’s street slang becomes part of your downtown scene, you know society has reached a whole new level of weird. And conservatives watching this spectacle will likely wonder: is this progress—or just another sign that the culture wars have officially gone robotic?
