San Francisco to robots: Don’t crowd our sidewalks

Robots that trundle along sidewalks R2D2-style to deliver takeout food or packages are still in early test phases. Few even exist. But San Francisco is cracking down on them, and that may stem from mounting concerns about automation gobbling up jobs. On Tuesday night, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors unanimously passed tough new regulations that will limit companies to three robots each; limit the city to nine robots total; and confine robots to industrial areas where almost no one lives - all of which makes it hard to test their basic function of delivering goods to consumers.

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