Robot delivery company Starship Technologies has ended its pilot in Sheffield, UK after just five months, taking the robots off the streets after a spate of vandalism, according to the Sheffield Star.

Starship launched its robots in Sheffield in March, using the AI-powered autonomous robots to complete deliveries for its food deliver partner Uber Eats. At the time, chief executive and co-founder Ahti Heinla said that “Starship robots have been a much-loved part of daily life for communities across the UK since 2018: picking up shopping, dropping off essentials, there when people need them”.

However, the Star reported that a small number of robots in the city had been damaged and defaced, with vandals having sprayed them with black graffiti reading “off our streets” and snapped off flags meant to improve visibility.

Traffic cones were also reportedly placed behind the robots to stop them moving, the paper reported.

Ryan Case, public affairs and communication manager at Starship told the paper that vandalism did not play a part in the company’s decision to remove the robots. “There have been a small number of incidents of vandalism in Sheffield, which is disappointing, not least because it affects the local businesses that rely on the robots for deliveries.

“However, vandalism was not a factor in our decision to pause the service: this was a commercial decision and a natural conclusion to the pilot phase.”

Case added that Starship robots may return to the city but that the firm will assess the results of its pilot programme before making a decision.

The robots have been rolled out across the country over the past year, beginning with Leeds in December 2025.

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