Who set a humanoid robot dressed in a cowboy hat and pride flags loose in L.A.?

Los Angeles residents were treated to a show recently when a humanoid robot wearing a cowboy hat and rainbow pride flags appeared on the streets of West Hollywood. A banner across its chest proclaimed its name was Rizzbot.

Cellphone videos posted online show the 4-foot-tall Rizzbot dancing on street corners and interacting with passersby. One person even captured it running across a crosswalk on Santa Monica Boulevard. In peak L.A. fashion, residents were mostly unsurprised and entertained by Rizzbot’s sudden and unexplained appearance on their streets.

“It doesn’t surprise me, no,” longtime West Hollywood resident Michael Fiscina said. “I expect to see a parade of them in about two years at the Gay Pride parade.”

“I love it! It’s so West Hollywood!” commented Emmik Gonzalez, who manages zpizza on Santa Monica Boulevard.

It appears Rizzbot was built by Unitree Robotics, a China-based robotics company. The bot is powered by AI and uses “deep reinforcement learning and advanced simulation training.” Unitree did not respond to requests for comment from local media, and no one else has stepped up to claim responsibility for Rizzbot, so for now the source remains a mystery.