Tech workers have become increasingly vocal when their employers' business deals clash with their values.

Two months after reports that the robotics company Boston Dynamics would supply US Immigration and Customs Enforcement with some of its four-legged products resembling metal dogs, the company says it has no plans to abandon the deal despite objections from hundreds of employees.

The controversy began in late August, with reports that ICE planned to spend up to $2 million on Spot robot devices made by Boston Dynamics. According to documents supporting the purchase, the robot dogs would be used to listen for movement inside buildings and do searches in places humans can’t reach.

In September, employees sent management a petition, although the company has said it can’t verify that all of the more than 300 signatures are from Boston Dynamics staff because it claims nearly half of them were signed anonymously.

The Boston radio station WBUR posted a copy of the employee petition, minus signatures, which was sent to what the petition called “top management” on Sept. 8. ” In September 2025, ICE raided a Hyundai facility in Georgia and detained hundreds of workers, many of them from South Korea. Hyundai owns Boston Dynamics.

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