SILICON VALLEY — By Patricia Pending, AI Bee Reel Staff

February 19, 2026

AKRON, Ohio — Local gamer Greg Miller settled onto his couch with a controller, believing he was testing a beta version of Dust Bunny Destroyer 4. In reality, he was piloting a stranger’s vacuum cleaner across state lines, chasing a terrified tabby cat into a laundry room. Miller praised the “insane physics engine” as the device knocked over a plant stand three states away.

“We call this ‘Crowdsourced Hygiene’,” said Marcus Thorne, VP of Unintentional Connectivity. “Why pay for smart navigation when a bored teenager in Wisconsin will steer your vacuum for free? It turns household chores into an e-sport. The latency is bad, but the floors get mostly clean. We consider the security flaw a massive cost-saving measure.”

“The graphics are too real,” noted Miller, pausing the game to eat a chip while the actual vacuum hummed idly against a stranger’s shin. “I couldn’t figure out the jump button, but I did manage to suck up a sock. Level 2 is really hard.” Meanwhile, the homeowner, Brenda Higgins, watched helplessly as her appliance aggressively head-butted the refrigerator for forty minutes.

At press time, developers announced a $60 DLC pack allowing players to control the homeowner’s smart thermostat and garage door.

Inspired by the real story: A security flaw allowed one user to control thousands of robot vacuums using a simple AI tool and a game controller. Read the full story.