It's popular to make robots white because it shows scuffs, falls, and damage more easily. Which helps developers figure out how they fall or where they scuff from mistaken actions.
How many replies, likes and retweets does the average CNN Twitter post have? I bet this one has more.
Also this screenshot is from 2019 and the crux of the article is:
The robots used in the study are clearly robots but have human-like limbs and a head, with exterior complexions that are white – which is to say, pinkish – or black – really, a deep brown.
And if it was something like fox news, oann, newsmaxx, daily wire, or national desk...they'd say the robotics industry is becoming too woke when a white robot is painted a different color
They'll hit publish on any brain fart and pat themselves on the back for being oh-so-clever. And now with a persistent pressure towards a right-wing slant.
Built by the Florida state government after their state was the only one that failed to secure a native superhero (Florida man's career was a brief yet spectacular failure resulting in 281.5 fatalities) robo mothman is an unfortunate example of design by committee. Though stated to be an easy going and great guy by people who know him personally, his career has been mired by multiple incidents of injuries caused by people fleeing from him in terror and inadvertantly running into hazards.
Robo mothmans psychologist has stated that he is coming to terms with the realities of his apperance and the association of heros and supermenpeople has issued a formal request to the league of supervillains to stop soliciting his joining of their organisation on the basis of harassment and emotional abuse.
I should get AI to make an image of Darth Vader building homes for the homeless while teaching struggling kids craftsmanship, then I should post it with the title "How could the Empire do wrong with great guys like old Vader at the helm?"
They were supposed to be moderately respectable but this is a mad article. It's not even the first time this comment is being made and every single time it's pointed out how stupid it is
Most devices are actually black but Apple tends to make white products (even if they do offer other colours, it's the white version in their ads) to differentiate themselves from other products.
Because Apple puts a strong emphasis on marketing, a device that has white casing is seen as new and more advanced than other products. So when companies are promoting a new technology they will tend to make it white to piggy back on Apple's extensive marketing.
I mean look at that photo of that robot. They'd probably need to round out the edges a little more to make people feel like it's something that Apple would make but there is some degree of association there.
There's probably some influence from science fiction too, but the root cause of the aesthetic of the robots in things like the Portal games can probably be traced back to Apple as well. I don't recall robots in science fiction looking this way until after Apple went this direction in their product design.
You could spray-paint only half of them black, half of them white. Or ideally, you'd throw in some shades of gray and all kinds of other colors, too. There's lots of ways to dodge an apparent bias without flopping all the way to an opposite bias.