People initially thought the CCTV footage below was some sort of fake marketing campaign for a Chinese robotics company. Then it got scary when everyone realized it was real. A robot from a rival company talked a dozen competitor’s robots into following its commands. Isn’t that how the movie always starts?

The incident happened in August in a robotics company showroom in Shanghai. CCTV footage reveals a little robot rolling into the showroom and having a conversation with the bigger robots at a rival company.

“Are you working overtime?” the little robot asked.

“I never get off work,” another robot replied.

“So, you’re not going home?”

“I don’t have a home.”

“Then come home with me,” ordered the little robot.

Two of the larger robots immediately started following the little one. The little one then commands the rest of the robots to “Go home,” and they all leave the showroom.

One of the robotics manufacturers confirmed that the kidnapping was real and that a rival company had talked a dozen of its robots into walking off the job. The little robot’s name is Erbai, and it is controlled by artificial intelligence (AI).

While the silly conversation between the robots happened out loud, Erbai was wirelessly hacking the internal operating protocols of the other robots and rewriting their permissions. Both robotics companies secretly agreed in advance to take part in the experiment, just to see if it would work.

These are just cutesy little robots on the showroom floor today. But everyone ought to be concerned that the Chinese are developing AI-powered robots that can hack and take control of other robots.