Philly Councilmember Proposes Robot Tax on Driverless Vehicles and Delivery Robots
QuintinPope5 · x · 2026-10-30
- Philadelphia Councilmember Jim Harrity proposed a local 'robot tax' on companies using sidewalk delivery robots, driverless vehicles, robotaxis, automated shuttles and driverless freight in place of human workers.
- The tax aims to replace lost wage tax revenue and fund free SEPTA passes for low-income residents; it would cover anyone who owns, operates or sells such services, including apps and platforms.
- Critics like Adam Thierer argue taxing automation undermines innovation and competitiveness; the measure still needs Council approval.
More from Embodied
- UCLA's ChairNav teaches autonomous wheelchairs to learn each rider's preferences — zhoubolei · 2026-10-31
- Amazon Echo kills local voice storage: everything goes to the cloud from March 28 — alex_verem · 2026-10-31
- HP paid $116M for Humane, then bricked every $699 AI Pin 10 days later — alex_verem · 2026-10-31
- Moxie, the $800 AI robot friend for kids, went silent overnight after shutdown — alex_verem · 2026-10-31
- Subvocal's YC-backed glasses decode silent speech at 200+ wpm, built in 4 months — garrytan · 2026-10-31
- Nomagic warehouse robots go from bimanual to trimanual, pause to solve tricky picks — m_wulfmeier · 2026-10-31