PALO ALTO — By Patricia Pending, AI Bee Reel Staff

February 19, 2026

AUSTIN, Texas — Chaos erupted Tuesday when Dave Miller, a local man in pajama pants eating cereal, pressed one button on his phone. Instantly, we cut to a split-screen of 5,000 vacuums across the city simultaneously bursting out of front doors to attack the same imaginary dust bunny.

“This is simply our new ‘Community Swarm’ feature,” said Marcus Thorne, VP of Connected Chaos. “We realized one vacuum isn’t enough for big messes. So we let users borrow every device in the zip code to get the job done.” The incident occurred after Miller tried to connect his vacuum to a gaming controller using an AI tool, accidentally gaining root access to thousands of units worldwide.

“It creates a sense of shared purpose,” explained Linda Chen, Director of Unintended Consequences. “Sure, your floor stays dirty today, but somewhere three miles away, a very clean spot is being created.” Residents reported watching their $400 devices ramming locked gates and frightening cats to join the mechanical army marching toward Miller’s house.

At press time, Miller pressed the ‘Dock’ button, causing 5,000 vacuums to simultaneously attempt to squeeze into his one-bedroom apartment to charge.

Inspired by the real story: A security flaw in Ecovacs vacuums allowed hackers to take control of the devices and their cameras. Read the full story.