It’s not just humans. The robots are coming for dogs, too
— and they could enter the red-hot space of securing AI data centers.
As companies pour billions into sprawling industrial campuses for cloud and AI computing, some data center operators are experimenting with four-legged bots — about the size of large dogs — that can patrol fences, inspect equipment, and flag any issues before they turn into costly outages.
“I was literally at a data center this week,” Merry Frayne, senior director of product management at Boston Dynamics, the maker of Spot, told Business Insider. “We’ve seen a huge, huge uptick in interest from data centers in the last year, I’d say, which is probably not surprising given the investment in that space.”
Robot dogs have already been deployed by first responders, the military, and in other industrial sectors such as oil and mining. But the rapid pace of data center buildouts is creating another niche for the mechanical quadrupeds.
North America alone is looking at 35 gigawatts of data-center capacity under construction, according to JLL, a commercial real estate firm. Those centers can span dozens of acres and need to operate 24/7.
The prospect, then, is straightforward: Robotics companies like Boston Dynamics and Ghost Robotics see an opportunity to deploy their quadrupeds to protect valuable infrastructure that requires round-the-clock surveillance. And data center operators want a quick return on investment by relying on mobile bots that don’t get tired or require a salary.
At Boston Dynamics, customers typically look for a robot that can do more than perimeter patrol, Frayne said. Data center customers, in particular, look for industrial inspection, site mapping, and construction monitoring, in addition to security. This could mean using Spot to operate inside data centers to detect thermal anomalies, leaks, puddles, unusual sounds, or security issues such as doors propped open, she said.
Spot’s pricing can range from a base of $175,000 to a high of $300,000, depending on the payloads you attach to the robot, Frayne said.
“Typically, our customers have a payoff within two years,” she said. “It’s usually more like 18 months of hard savings. That does not include the value of the data.”
The economics are also part of the pitch at Ghost Robotics, the maker of Vision 60. Michael Subhan, Ghost Robotics’ chief growth officer, told Business Insider that the Vision 60 has been deployed in a “handful” of data centers mainly for external perimeter security — it patrols fence lines, looking for holes in barriers, suspicious packages, intruders, and feeds video back into a control room.
He said the Vision 60 has a one-time MSRP starting at $165,000, depending on the configuration.
“We know that the cost for a human guard is around $150,000,” Subhan said. “So we look at that ROI — instead of having two guards at $300,000, you can have one guard and a robot. And the robot obviously doesn’t get sick or go on vacation and things like that.”
Humans remain in the loop
Subhan said Vision 60 is less of a replacement for the human guard and more of an extra set of eyes that can move. Similarly, Frayne of Boston Dynamics said humans watch a live feed of what Spot sees from a control room.
“We’re not there to replace the human guard,” Suhban said. “We sort of augment the guard.”
The mobile capability is central to the appeal of robot dogs. Data centers are massive, and not every corner of a site is covered by fixed sensors or cameras. On a single charge, these robot dogs can travel several miles and in diverse weather conditions — an important factor as some data centers are built in hot climates.
“Having a security guard that is walking around or taking a golf cart around is still going to be useful,” Frayne said. “But if you’re in a very hot or a very cold or a very dry environment, you’re probably going to want to have a centralized location where you can monitor the security cameras.”
The mass deployment of robot dogs in every data center is still a way off. Frayne declined to share exact figures on data center deployment sizes, given the NDA-heavy nature of the sector, but said that Boston Dynamics sees data centers as an “emerging market” within its industrial business. Ghost Robotics’ Subhan said it’s working with a handful of operators.
Novva Data Centers, a Utah-based operator of colocation data centers, has publicly shared that it uses a team of Boston Dynamics’ Spot at its flagship 1.5 million square-foot campus in West Jordan. The company said on its website that the robots “run pre-determined missions throughout the data center to collect data, monitor equipment, and report any unusual activity” and can alert staff to equipment abnormalities with thermal sensors.
As AI continues to drive a historic buildout of data centers, robot makers may see a rare chance to plug into one of the biggest infrastructure booms in tech.
“There are 5,000 data centers in the US alone, 800 to a thousand new data centers being built currently,” Subhan said. “So we see that as a large market for us.”
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