Hello Robot Declared Safe for Home Use. The Standard Was Written by Hello Robot.

Hello Robot passed safety tests. The safety tests were chosen from a menu that included safety tests Hello Robot was built to pass. This is not technically fraud. The applicable standards now include the ones that make the robot compliant with the standards. The certification is real. So is the circularity.

Every organization writes or selects the rules it will be judged by. This happens in food safety, automotive, aviation, pharmaceuticals. But usually there is pretense. There is an external body. There is at least paperwork suggesting independence. Here the chain of custody is transparent and therefore somehow worse.

The robot will function as intended in homes. Homeowners will be safe or they will not. The standard will have been met either way. This is how adequacy works now.