Reports of robot vacuums chasing pets and yelling racist obscenities have prompted action from Ecovacs, with a further patch promised in November.

Cybersecurity researchers identified multiple vulnerabilities in the popular brand of robots just a few months before the incidents took place.

Multiple ECOVACS Deebot X2 robot vacuums were hacked in cities across the US. The hackers used the robots to spew racial slurs.

Ecovacs blamed a “credential stuffing event” for Deebot X2 Omni robot vacuums that were commandeered to spew hateful words.

In several cities across the USA, hackers have taken control of cleaning robots, targeting one popular model of the device. Within a few days, cleaning robots in many American cities were hacked. The hackers took control of their movements and caused the devices to emit obscene words through the built-in speakers.