How many people have been killed by robots?
According to the incidents documented in the Killed by Robots catalog, 3 people have been killed; 1 person has been injured.
The count
Across the 9 AI and robotics incidents this catalog has researched and sourced, 3 people have been killed; 1 person has been injured.
Of the 9 documented incidents, 9 have a confirmed harm classification; 0 remain unclassified or unresolved pending review.
No government or industry body maintains a live count of this kind; this figure reflects only what this catalog has independently verified and sourced.
These counts reflect the incident's initial published reporting. This site's automated daily updates do not currently revise harm counts when later coverage changes them.
A harm classification records what this catalog's research determined and, for the earliest entries, what an editor hand-reviewed at backfill time - it is not an independent verification of the underlying claim.
Frequently asked
How many people have been killed by robots?
According to the Killed by Robots catalog, 3 people have been killed. This reflects only what this catalog has independently verified and sourced - no government or industry body maintains a live count of this kind.
How many deaths have been caused by AI?
Across the 9 AI and robotics incidents this catalog has researched and sourced, 3 people have been killed.
How many people have been injured by robots or AI systems?
Across the incidents this catalog has researched and sourced, 1 person has been injured.
See the incidents
- Robert Williams, 1979: the first person on record killed by a robot - 1 person killed
- A Kawasaki robot arm crushed Kenji Urada in 1981, and the world only heard about it five months later - 1 person killed
- Uber test SUV killed a Tempe pedestrian after never classifying her as a person - 1 person killed
For the full, sourced list of documented fatalities, see who has been killed by robots.