US Startup Pays People Rs 1,900 Per Hour To Walk Robot Dogs On City Streets

A US-based startup is offering people $20 (around Rs 1,900) per hour to walk robot dogs through city streets as part of an experiment aimed at teaching artificial intelligence (AI) machines to navigate real-world environments. The initiative involves human handlers guiding four-legged robots along outdoor routes while the machines collect valuable data to improve their autonomous movement.

According to a job listing shared in the "Bay Area Jobs" Facebook group, successful applicants were required to walk the robotic dogs for four to six hours per shift. Although the advertisement has since been deleted, a report by The New York Times detailed.

"Dimensional is hiring dependable people to operate a four-legged robot on outdoor testing routes around San Francisco. No robotics experience is required. We provide the robot, safety instructions, and assigned routes. Shifts begin and end at our Dogpatch office and last approximately 4-6 hours," read the job description.

The company specified that applicants should be comfortable walking outdoors for extended periods, working independently and operating a smartphone. They must also be capable of safely handling the robotic dogs, each weighing approximately 15 kg.

🇺🇸 A San Francisco startup is PAYING $20 an hour for people to WALK its robot dogs 🦮

The company needs humans to guide the 33-pound robots through city streets to collect real-world data.

The machines still overheat or stall, forcing walkers to haul them back. AI agents can’t handle the hardware alone yet.

Turns out robots need dog walkers before they can replace them 😅

Writer: Lucas https://t.co/Yu3FwMV8ns

— Mario Nawfal (@MarioNawfal) October 29, 2026

As human handlers guide the robots through streets, their onboard cameras and sensors capture information about the surrounding environment. The collected data is then used to train AI systems to recognise obstacles, understand their surroundings and navigate urban spaces more effectively.

Dimensional is developing an open-source operating system designed to allow AI agents to control physical robots and eventually perform manual tasks such as transporting heavy boxes and working at construction sites.

As part of its ambitious robotics experiment, the startup has purchased 100 robot dogs and 50 humanoid robots from manufacturers across China, Germany and the US. The $2,000 robotic dogs spotted roaming San Francisco streets were sourced from Chinese manufacturer Unitree. These machines can be operated using either a remote control or a smartphone application.

Dimensional founder Stash Pomichter said the experiment was designed to improve the robots' ability to independently navigate busy urban environments. However, he acknowledged that the machines still rely heavily on human assistance because AI agents struggle to control physical hardware effectively.

"What we determined from our dog-walking experiment was that agents are still very bad at controlling hardware," Pomichter stated.