A Tesla engineer was attacked by a robot during a brutal and bloody breakdown at the company's Giga Texas factory near Austin.
Two witnesses watched in horror as their colleague was attacked by the machine designed to grab and move freshly cast aluminum car parts.
The robot pinned down the man, who was then programming software for two nearby robots, before digging its metal claws into the worker's back and arm, leaving a "blood trail" on the factory surface.
The incident left the victim with an "open wound" on his left arm. The case was revealed in a 2021 report filed with Travis County regulators and federal authorities, the Daily Mail reported.
The incident comes amid years of heightened concern about the risks of automated robots in the workplace.
Reports of increased injuries from robotic colleagues at Amazon's shipping centers, killer surgeon droids, self-driving cars and even violence from robotic chess instructors have led some to question the rapid integration of the new technology.
The report, which Tesla must submit to authorities by law in order to keep its lucrative Texas tax breaks, claims the engineer did not request the absence from work.
But a lawyer representing Tesla Giga Texas workers told the Daily Mail that the number of injuries suffered at the factory remains under wraps.
This includes the death on September 28, 2021 of a construction worker who was hired to help build the factory itself.
"My advice would be to read this report carefully," said attorney Hannah Alexander of the nonprofit Workers Defense Project.
"We had multiple injured workers," Alexander said, "and one deceased worker whose injuries or deaths are not on those reports that Tesla must fill out accurately and submit to the county in order to receive tax incentives."
The construction worker in question died of heatstroke while helping build Tesla's massive Giga Texas factory, according to a Travis County medical examiner's report. /BGNES
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