October 2025
Robots powered by artificial intelligence are advancing rapidly, with new systems able to understand everyday language and generate complex plans. This makes them more capable and adaptable, but it also introduces risks. Large language models (LLMs) — the same technology behind tools like ChatGPT — can sometimes be tricked into producing harmful or unethical instructions. A malicious user, for example, could try to “jailbreak” the system into giving dangerous commands. If those instructions were carried out directly, a robot might act in dangerous or harmful ways.
The Asimov Box project develops a protective layer to prevent this kind of misuse. Sitting between the AI planner and the robot’s physical actions, the Asimov Box intercepts every instruction and checks it against safety and ethical constraints. Commands that are safe are passed through. Commands that are dangerous, suspicious, or impossible are rewritten into a safe alternative or stopped entirely.
A key innovation is the design that uses a “buddy system,” where a secondary validator — Asimov Box — double-checks the AI’s outputs, ensuring no single component has unchecked control. Moreover, unlike prior work that focuses only on training-time alignment or planning-stage verification, the Asimov Box emphasizes final-step interception — no action is executed without last-mile validation against real-time context, — and requires user’s clarification if the safety of the action is ambiguous.
By combining adversarial resistance, real-time interception, and structured safeguards, the Asimov Box provides a robust defense against misuse of AI-driven robots. The project’s broader goal is to show how society can enjoy the benefits of increasingly capable robots without sacrificing safety, trust, or accountability. In doing so, it contributes to the urgent global conversation about how to govern powerful new technologies responsibly and prevent the possibility of dual-use.