The Third International Congress in Love and Sex with Robots has been rocked by terror threats from Muslim extremists.
The two-day conference, which started today, was supposed to take place at Goldsmiths University, where it was held last year.
But organisers have been forced to move the controversial meeting of computer scientists, AI experts and robot ethicists to a secret venue for security reasons.
The second annual conference was due to be held in Iskamdar, a Malaysian state, in 2015, but was banned by police for being “illegal”.
Police chief Tan Sri Khalid Abu Bakar said the event was “ridiculous”, adding: “There’s nothing scientific about having sex with machines.”
Now, ahead of this year’s event, organisers have been told about terror threats from an “international group”.
As a precaution, organisers have hired security to patrol the new venue, in north London, for the duration of the conference.