This jumping $800 robot camera dog filled me with joy

The Mondo Robotics Beni. | Photo by Sean Hollister / The Verge What if you had a drone that wasn't a buzzy, annoying fly people wanted to swat - but rather a cute dog that runs and jumps? What if it could do tricks on command and film your tricks as well?

What if it could get right back up after a nasty-looking crash, dozens of times in a row? The first time I saw Beni on Instagram, I immediately thought it was AI video slop. Surely consumer robots aren't that smart and agile in 2026? Then I took the real robot for a spin.