Sheriff’s office tests out robot.
A humanoid robot walked with the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in the July 4 parade in Kernersville, NC.
Some people would love to own a robot; others would love to live in a world without robots; and some worry that unregulated development could lead to catastrophic outcomes.
Newspapers reported that a “Mechanical Man” toured several cities across United States in 1913. When the exhibition came to eastern North Carolina, it “had so many New Bernians guessing whether he was human or a mere piece of mechanism,” as reported by The Daily Journal. When the figure appeared in a Kinston display window, citizens were conclusively convinced that “he was able to act just like any other human being and in fact was a mortal man.”
Fast forward to May 2025 when President Donald Trump met with Saudi Arabia Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in Riyad, and “the U.S. and Saudi Arabia signed a $600 billion agreement that includes a defense contract and investments in artificial intelligence (AI),” as reported by Forbes. It was also reported that Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, AMD CEO Lisa Su and Tesla CEO Elon Musk who also met in Riyad concluded their own deals at a conference.
Within weeks, SpectrumNews.com reported that Tesla “released a video showing new progress on its humanoid robot, Optimus. Meta announced plans for a new division to build AI-powered robots to assist with physical tasks. Amazon is investing $10 billion into an AI campus in Richmond County.” They also reported that the University of North Carolina’s Interactive Robotics and Novel Technologies Lab students and faculty were “focused on building machines that work with people, not replace them.” The article said one standpoint project was led by a student who was turning a Boston Dynamics robot dog into a potential guide companion for the visually impaired.”
In July, President Trump released an AI Action Plan that said, “The United States is in a race to achieve global dominance in artificial intelligence (AI).” The plan said, “AI will enable a wide range of new innovations in the physical world: autonomous drones, self driving cars, robotics, and other inventions for which terminology does not yet exist. It is crucial that America and our trusted allies be world-class manufacturers of these next-generation technologies.”
The president signed an executive order that said, “We will pursue bold, large-scale industrial plans to vault the United States further into the lead on critical manufacturing processes and technologies that are essential to national security, economic prosperity, and scientific leadership. These plans include artificial intelligence (AI) data centers and infrastructure that powers them, including high‑voltage transmission lines and other equipment. It will be a priority of my Administration to facilitate the rapid and efficient buildout of this infrastructure by easing Federal regulatory burdens.” The order says, “In addition, my Administration will utilize federally owned land and resources for the expeditious and orderly development of data centers…” as previously reported here.
The Crown Prince and the U.S. President upped the initial $600 billion trade and investment commitment to the U.S. to $1 trillion on Nov. 18, 2025, according to a White House fact sheet. The next day Saudi Arabia Minister of Communications and Information Technology H.E. Abdullah Alswaha moderated a discussion between Elon Musk and Jensen Huang during the U.S.-Saudi Investment Forum. Musk predicted during the World Economic Forum that there will be more robots than people.
He said there were no useful humanoid robots but predicted Tesla was going to make the first useful one and questioned, “Who wouldn’t want their own personal C3PO or R2-D2 (from Star Wars)?”
In May 2026, the Associated Press reported that “A robot developed at Duke University is almost ready to face the world, in any direction.”
On Independence Day, a humanoid robot walked alongside the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office in the parade in Kernersville, NC (as pictured above). WXII 12 reported that the robot “is part of a partnership with Artificial Intelligence Robotics Arts R&D at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts/Center for Design Innovation…” NewBernNow.com reached out to the FCSO to find out more information but have not received a response by press time.
The Craven County Board of Commissioners approved a budget amendment for a new contract that will expand use of services that track citizen issues and other items on July 6. The information in the meeting packet said the county’s current contract is for “cutting-edge AI and customer service solutions for citizens” and the county aims to expand its use of services in fiscal year 2027, “which will require an additional $10,000 on top of the current budgeted amount of $30,000,” as previously reported here.
A half-hour special by Carolina Week provides some insight into how artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everyday life, as noted on the Hussman School of Journalism and Media website.
By Wendy Card, editor. Send an email with questions or comments.