Boston Dynamics says its Spot quadruped robots are being used by FIFA Security to support perimeter patrols at two venues during the 2026 FIFA World Cup: the International Broadcast Center in Dallas and NY/NJ Stadium.
The company describes the deployment as a security and asset-protection operation. Spot collects visual and thermal data, detects people or changes along a route, and escalates findings to trained personnel for review. The announcement does not establish that the robots independently identify threats, make enforcement decisions or have improved security outcomes.
The tournament is being held across 16 host cities in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
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What Spot is doing at the venues
At the two named sites, Boston Dynamics says Spot is conducting perimeter patrols intended to support asset protection and risk detection. The robots are being used in a large public-event security setting, extending a platform more commonly associated with industrial inspection, maintenance and change detection.
The described operating model is one of augmentation rather than replacement. Spot provides repeated perimeter coverage and sensor data, while trained security personnel review the information and determine what action, if any, is required.
Boston Dynamics also says customers in more than 40 countries have used Spot for change detection across industries. That claim is supplied by the company and is not accompanied in the announcement by independent deployment or performance data.
How the security workflow works
Boston Dynamics links the security-focused capability to Spot software release 5.1, which it says enabled missions for customers seeking additional off-hours monitoring.
In the workflow described by the company, Spot follows a patrol route and can detect a person. It then pauses, activates visible lights, captures imagery using several sensor modes, triggers an alert and resumes its route.
The imaging options include:
- PTZ imagery: A pan-tilt-zoom camera can change its viewing direction and optical framing, allowing a remote operator or monitoring system to inspect a particular area more closely.
- Panoramic imagery: A wider view can provide broader context around the robot’s location.
- Thermal imagery: Thermal cameras detect infrared radiation and show heat patterns that may not be visible in ordinary images.
These sensors can increase the amount and variety of information available to security teams. However, detecting a person or a change does not by itself establish that the person presents a security threat. The source assigns final review to trained staff.
The announcement does not specify whether the robots patrol fully autonomously, remain under continuous remote supervision or use a hybrid control arrangement. It also does not explain how alerts are transmitted, who monitors them or how quickly personnel respond.
Why the deployment matters
The World Cup use case illustrates a practical role for mobile robots in security: persistent, repeatable monitoring of selected areas while people retain responsibility for interpretation and decisions.
For event-security teams, a robot can repeatedly traverse a predefined route and collect sensor data without requiring a staff member to physically walk the entire perimeter each time. That may provide additional coverage, particularly during periods when fewer personnel are present. The evidence in the announcement, however, does not show how much additional coverage the deployment provides compared with conventional patrols.
The more significant change is the setting. Spot is being used not only as an industrial inspection platform but also as part of a high-profile public-event security workflow. The combination of route execution, person detection, visible lighting, PTZ, panoramic and thermal imaging creates a structured process for escalating observations to human staff.
FIFA World Cup Chief Safety and Security Officer G.B. Jones said FIFA Security personnel were using Spot robots at select venues for security and asset protection.