Rizzbot: The Story of an Offensive Gesture from a TikTok Star and Gen Z Robots

A few weeks ago, I received an unexpected direct message via Instagram from Rizzbot, a famous humanoid robot with over a million followers on TikTok and half a million on Instagram. The message was a photo of Rizzbot making an offensive gesture. There was no text or explanation, just a robot raising its middle finger. Despite my shock, I quickly guessed the reason. Weeks before, I had a conversation with Rizzbot – or the person managing the robot’s account – about a potential article. The account had strongly caught my attention; a humanoid robot roaming the streets of Austin, wearing Nike shoes and a cowboy hat, famous for "roasting," flirting, and being entertaining. The word "Rizz" is a slang term used by Gen Z, short for "charisma," referring to the ability to attract or impress others smoothly and confidently (FamilyEducation, 2024).

I was astonished by the immense popularity of this account. Usually, people feel uncomfortable with humanoid robots due to concerns about privacy and fear of job loss (Frontiers, 2021). Many see robots as a threat to their job security, and studies show that privacy and data protection concerns negatively impact the intention to use robots (PubMed Central, 2022). Online, they are often called derogatory names like "clankers." In the field of robotics technology, experts are still debating the best roles and tasks robots can effectively perform.

I saw Rizzbot as a model that could help the public accept the idea of interacting with humanoid robots. Rizzbot agreed to an interview, which led me to contact robotics experts to discuss the future of the field in preparation for writing the story. Two weeks after my initial message to Rizzbot, I told him I would send the interview questions the following Monday or Tuesday.

But life intervened, and I missed the deadline. When I was ready to send the questions on Thursday morning, I thought the delay wouldn't be a big issue.

But it was too late. Late that night, Rizzbot sent that offensive photo. The robot's message was clear: You broke your promise to me.

I didn't give up. I apologized to the robot (or whoever controls it?) for the delay and promised to send the questions as soon as possible during business hours. But when I tried to communicate a few hours later, I was surprised by a "User Not Found" message.

The robot had blocked me.

My friends found it amusing that I was blocked by Rizzbot, as for weeks I had been enthusiastically talking about writing this article. I received messages like: "lol Rizzbot roasted you," and "You're beefing with a robot lol." I tried to contact Rizzbot via TikTok, a step one friend described as desperate. But what else could I do? I had pitched the story to my editors, spent hours researching, and despite this dispute, Rizzbot the robot still represents an engaging topic for TechCrunch readers interested in technology.

Rizzbot's Response and Frustration

While my friends were enjoying the situation, I felt a sense of frustration. Not only had my story stalled, but I had become the girl blocked by a dancing robot. My colleague, Amanda Silberling, extended a helping hand and contacted Rizzbot's account to inquire about the reason for the block. The robot's reply was terse: "Rizzbot blocks as it flirts – smoothly, confidently, and without remorse." Then it sent her the same middle finger photo I had received. At that point, I thought: "I wasn't even special enough to get a unique offensive gesture."

Is Rizzbot Human or AI?

But then, a friend brought up a terrifying idea that had never occurred to me: "Maybe it wasn't a human response. I'm worried about you." It seemed I had made my first robot enemy, and the robot revolution had just begun. But is this true? Was I really arguing with a human, or with an advanced AI system?

I discovered that Rizzbot's real name is Jake the Robot. Its owner, according to reports, is an unknown YouTuber and biochemist. The robot itself is a standard Unitree G1 model, a humanoid robot that can be purchased for between $16,000 and over $70,000 (Unitree, undated).

Rizzbot was trained by Kyle Morgenstein, a Ph.D. student in the robotics lab at the University of Texas at Austin. Morgenstein worked with a team for three weeks to teach the robot to dance and move its limbs. Although many of the robot's behaviors are pre-programmed, it is remotely controlled by its actual owner – who does not appear to be Morgenstein – present nearby to issue commands.

Based on my conjectures about the underlying technology of the robot – and after a conversation with Malte F. Jung, an assistant professor at Cornell University specializing in information science – it seems someone is operating the robot's behaviors. A photo of anyone interacting with the robot is taken, then this photo is passed through ChatGPT or another large language model, and then a text-to-speech function is used to roast or flirt with the person.

"Rizzbot flips the traditional script about people mistreating robots," Jung noted. "Now, the robot has the right to be offensive to people. The actual product here is the performance and interaction."

Morgenstein reported to other media outlets that Rizzbot's real owner aims only to entertain the public and demonstrate the joy that humanoid robots can bring.

It remains unclear who manages Rizzbot's social media accounts. However, when Rizzbot sent that photo to Silberling, it also sent an error message – perhaps by mistake – indicating GPU memory exhaustion. This might suggest that an AI agent might be involved in managing the account, perhaps automatically generating direct responses. The message also indicated that Rizzbot has only 48GB of memory.

"What makes you confident that the manager was ever human?" asked my programmer friend, referring to Rizzbot's Instagram account.

In the age of advanced AI, it's plausible that someone trained a robot to link a large language model to Instagram direct messages. The block I experienced could have been an automatic security system, as my programmer friend explained, meaning I might have triggered it by sending a direct message in the early morning hours, even if it was just a reply.

However, there are some clues suggesting human involvement in managing Rizzbot's social media: there were spelling errors in his initial reply to me when I first requested an interview.

But, unless Rizzbot reveals whether its social media account manager is another robot (which is unlikely given our dispute), I'll probably never know the answer. Perhaps it doesn't really matter.

"If they invested $50,000 in a robot and several thousand in a device with 48GB of memory, I wouldn't doubt anything," my programmer friend commented. "They're clearly committed to this game."

The Robot Craze Phenomenon and Its Social Impact

Rizzbot's TikTok page has garnered over 45 million views. Some clips show Rizzbot chasing people in the streets, while others show it bumping into a pole and falling to the ground. One widely circulated video, presumably edited by AI, depicts Rizzbot being run over by a car, reflecting the controversial and humorous side of robot pranks (Skibidi Times, 2025).

"It's frankly hilarious," commented a founding friend, describing the viral videos as a "robot craze phenomenon." He noted that the AI used might be rudimentary, but the idea of Rizzbot represents a "funny overlap" between internet-sarcastic humor and the lightness that many social media platforms currently lack. He added: "It interacts with people in a new and innovative way."

I still wonder about the true role of humanoid robots in our societies. All the sci-fi movies I've watched – from "Blade Runner" to "I, Robot" – come to mind, raising questions about how much fear I should feel now that I've made my first robot enemy.

"The entertainment performance seems to be the primary use for these types of robots," Jung commented, adding that Rizzbot is "like a modern version of street puppet shows."

Jung continued: "Hand puppets are often rude or audacious in their performances."

In addition to Rizzbot, Jung pointed to the performance of humanoid robots at China's Spring Festival, where they performed folk dances alongside humans, and in San Francisco, audiences flock to boxing rings to watch robots exchange punches, confirming the increasing use of robots in entertainment (MIT Technology Review, 2025).

"Robots will become the primary form of mass entertainment, replacing fashion models, dancers, singers, comedians, and even our companions," stated Dima Gazda, founder of Esper Bionics. He added that humans will transition into specialized and distinct talents. "As robots evolve and gain agility and emotional intelligence, they will integrate better into performances and interactive experiences compared to humans."

Fortunately, for now, the widespread proliferation of dancing robots seems to face difficulties, according to Jean Apicella, executive director of the Pittsburgh Robotics Network. So, there's no need to worry about this dispute escalating into hordes of dancing robots invading my home. The idea never even crossed my mind.

It has now been over a week since I was blocked, and I find myself remembering the joy I felt watching Rizzbot the robot chasing people in the streets. My favorite video shows a woman dancing enthusiastically to Rizzbot's rhythm. A large crowd gathered around the scene, and people seemed genuinely entertained, perhaps yearning for their unique moment to dance with a robot.

I always joked with my friends that I wanted to be on the side of the robots if a revolution broke out. But even as I write this article, I found myself on the verge of another dispute with AI – this time with Meta AI, which I had never used before. I accidentally started a conversation with Meta AI while searching for my old conversations with Rizzbot on Instagram. Meta AI replied: "Hey, what's up, guys? Are you calling me Rizzbot? 🤣 What's the latest?" At that moment, I decided it was time to log out of the platform.