Airbnb Host Claims Tech Startup Used His Childhood Home to Test a 6-Foot Robot, Causing $22K in Damage: Filing

Natalia SenanayakeSat, May 30, 2026 at 12:00 AM UTC

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Person holding keys to a home
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Airbnb host Sean Donovan claims a tech startup used his San Francisco home for testing and filming of its robot, according to a small claims filing

The company allegedly caused extensive damage to the property including to its floors, furniture and appliances

Donovan is seeking $12,383.50 in damages, which he claims is a reduction from the over $22,000 in documented repair costs

An Airbnb host who rents out his childhood home in San Francisco is seeking over $12,000 in damages after he claims a tech startup used the property to test out a new robot it's developing.

According to legal documents filed on Tuesday, May 26, and obtained by PEOPLE, California homeowner Sean Donovan is suing a robotics engineering startup called The Bot Company, referred to as Botco, Inc. in the filing, for allegedly damaging his home after booking it on Airbnb “under false pretenses.”

During the company's rental of the home from April 12 to 25, over 30 individuals accessed the property “without authorization,” Donovan claims in the filing. The company allegedly used his home to “conduct unauthorized commercial [research and development] activity including robotic prototype testing and filming for commercial purposes,” the document alleges.

Stock image of a film crew inside a home
Credit: Getty

He also claims that while his house is available for commercial filming at a rate of $300 an hour through another rental platform called Peerspace, he says the company “deceptively booked” it as a short-term rental on Airbnb.

In addition to the company's alleged unauthorized use of his home, Donovan claims they extensively damaged his property, “including paint damage, floor damage, damage to furniture and appliances, missing personal property, and unauthorized entry into a locked closet,” per the filing.

Donovan is seeking $12,383.50 in damages, which represents a “good faith reduction from total documented damages of $22,500.37,” the filing states.

In an interview with SFGate published earlier this week, Donovan says he's been renting out the four-bedroom, three-bathroom property, which is also his childhood home, for years — and he's never seen damage done to the house like this until now.

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The homeowner tells the outlet that as an Airbnb host, he's able to check potential guests' ratings from previous rentals. While he admits this group had very little rental history and no reviews, he said that “everyone has to start somewhere” so he allowed them to book.

Man typing on a laptop
Credit: Getty

He recalls stumbling upon the group's peculiar setup at his home when he returned one day to deal with the trash, telling SFGate that he saw multiple wires strung inside the interior of the home.

While described as a “robotic prototype” in the filing, Donovan further explains to the outlet that the robot looked like a six-foot “Roomba with treads” equipped with poles and belts. At one point, he said he also saw a man typing on a laptop next to the robotic figure.

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He also told the outlet that he reviewed outdoor Ring camera footage and audio, leading him to believe that his home served as the company's temporary research and development lab.

According to The Bot Company's website, the startup's focus is on “building a helpful robot for every home” that will do “all the little things that eat away at our time and energy.” The company describes itself as a “small team of engineers, designers and operators” in San Francisco that has experience from companies like Tesla, Cruise, OpenAI, Google and Pixar.

PEOPLE has reached out to Donovan and The Bot Company

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Original Article on Source

Source: “AOL Money”