A humanoid robot dramatically collapsed during a live presentation before being covered with black sheets and awkwardly carried off stage in footage that has gone viral online.
The mishap unfolded during Qualcomm’s Computex 2026 presentation in Taipei as the technology giant demonstrated a robot powered by its Dragonwing IQ10 robotics platform.
Video shows the white humanoid walking onto the stage carrying a tray as a presenter discusses the technology.
Moments later, the robot appears to freeze before pitching forward and crashing heavily onto the floor.
One of its arms briefly rises into the air after the fall, prompting viewers to joke that the machine was attempting to signal that it was all right.
The presenter continues speaking as several staff members rush onto the stage with black coverings, drape them over the robot and attempt to carry it away.
The rescue operation becomes increasingly chaotic as the staff struggle to lift the machine, with part of the robot remaining visible beneath the sheets.
Footage of the incident spread across Reddit, X and YouTube, where viewers compared the removal to workers carrying away a body.
“Dude came in with the body bag real quick,” one Reddit user wrote.
“They were so quick, multiple bags ready. Feels like they were half expecting this,” another said.
A third added: “Also why do they cover it as if it’s an actual dead body lol.”
Others were amused by the presenter’s decision to continue with the demonstration while the robot was being removed only metres away.
Qualcomm later said a technical issue had triggered the shutdown and insisted the robot’s safety systems had performed as designed.
“Live demos involve risk,” the company said in a statement provided to Creative Bloq.
Qualcomm said a “brief communication glitch” triggered a fault in the prototype and initiated a controlled shutdown.
The company said the robot then performed its designed “safe-collapse” sequence, lowering itself to its knees to protect the surrounding environment.
“The safety systems worked as intended,” Qualcomm said.
It added that the incident had provided real-world data that would be used to improve reliability and develop safer robotics systems.
Dragonwing IQ10 is part of Qualcomm’s push into AI-powered robotics and is intended to support developers building machines for industrial and commercial uses.
The demonstration was meant to showcase the platform’s ability to power autonomous humanoid robots before the unexpected shutdown stole the show.
While Qualcomm maintained the fall demonstrated its safety features working correctly, the widely shared footage became one of the conference’s most memorable moments.
Investors were not seeing the funny side though as the company’s share price fell 10.13 per cent in the past five days.