A widely circulated video shows a food delivery robot tiptoeing around a homeless man sleeping on a Miami sidewalk, sparking commentary on modern dystopias.
TikTok creator @hackedliving shared the video on January 29, 2026, and it has since accumulated nearly 3 million views and more than 3,000 comments.
The moving sidewalk robot, with the name “Akira” emblazoned on its front, circles around a homeless man sleeping in the middle of the sidewalk while completing deliveries placed through a food delivery app.
Moving sidewalk food delivery robot navigates around sleeping man on Miami street
Moving sidewalk food delivery robot navigates around sleeping man on Miami street
Moving sidewalk food delivery robot navigates around sleeping man on Miami street
@hackedliving wrote “how meta” in the caption of the post, tagging the city of Miami and Miami documentarian Billy Corben.
The Akira robot in the video is made by Serve Robotics, a company that spun off from Uber in 2021. Its autonomous sidewalk robots work with delivery platforms like Uber Eats and DoorDash to deliver meals in a growing number of U.S. cities. Serve begins operations in Miami in February 2025.
Despite rising food and housing insecurity, thousands of food delivery robots are currently operating in the United States.
By the end of 2025, Serve Robotics has deployed more than 2,000 robots in cities such as Los Angeles, Dallas, Miami and Chicago.
Commenters on the viral video were quick to note the disturbing contrast between the autonomous convenience and apparent homelessness on the same street.
“We live in the lamest cyberpunk dystopia,” TikTok user @ultrafire1545 commented.
X User @truthstreamnews sets the scene with a description of financial dystopia that fits a science fiction setting.
“It’s 2026. You watch patiently as your delivery robot swerves, avoiding human bodies splayed out on the dirty, sun-dappled sidewalk, to deliver a pizza you agree to pay in four installments on Klarna for a $3 delivery fee + $4.99 service fee, with an APR of 35.68%.” They added that the video “feels like it would be a great origin story for where the phrase ‘we lost the plot’ comes from.”
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