AUTO

The AUTO units are robots built by the Buy N Large Corporation, and designed to function as the autopilot aboard the starliner spacecraft.
 Shaped like a sailing ship's steering wheel, AUTO units assist the
ship's captain with his or her duties. One particular AUTO unit is the
main antagonist of the film *WALL•E*, as he works against Captain B. McCrea, EVE, and WALL•E,
 though this is debated because he was just following orders, and not
doing it for his own gain. His voice is also very deep. The AUTO unit
aboard the *Axiom* ran most of the ship's functions (with the ship's computer) due to the captain's severe obesity, but also was secretly charged with enacting Directive A-113. The AUTO unit's central red eye is a direct reference to the HAL 9000 in Stanley Kubrick's *2001: A Space Odyssey*. Not only do AUTO and HAL both share the central red eye, but they also both share a secret directive which they attempt to carry out, regardless of the effects of the secret directive
towards humans. AUTO has the secret order (Directive A-113) to never
return to Earth; however, an EVE unit returns to the *Axiom* with the plant, confirming that Earth is habitable. AUTO responds by informing the captain of the discovery, while GO-4,
 his subordinate, was ordered to steal the plant from deactivated EVE's
internal container to make it seem like she was defective, and dispose
of it in an escape pod. The captain ordered that EVE would be sent to
maintenance and, upon spotting WALL•E, sends him along too.
As night fell, AUTO found the captain researching about Earth and
 deactivated the computer, wishing the captain a good night, but the
latter reactivated the computer. But soon, AUTO is summoned by the
captain, revealing that EVE had retrieved the plant and ordered that he
would fire up the holo-detector for the *Axiom* to return to Earth.
 AUTO attempted to seize the plant, but this only made the captain
suspicious and demanded answers. AUTO is reluctant at first, but then
allows the captain to view a top secret video that Shelby Forthright sent
 to the autopilots 700 years before. The captain is shocked and tries to
 convince AUTO that things have changed on Earth. AUTO is still driven
by his directive, and orders his henchbot GO-4
 to seize the plant with a force field, but EVE draws her weapon at the
captain's command. GO-4 attempts to toss the plant down the garbage
chute, only for WALL•E to catch it. As WALL•E held the plant in his
chassis and refused to hand it over to AUTO, the latter tries to destroy
 WALL•E by shocking him with his taser, and sending him down the garbage
 chute. He deactivates EVE, and sends her down the chute as well before
locking the captain in his room. However, EVE and WALL•E were saved by M-O, and made it back to the upper decks. When a security bot
 catches a picture of EVE and WALL•E with the plant, AUTO summoned every
 available security bot on the ship to stop them. At the same time, the
captain tried to communicate where to bring the plant before AUTO cuts
him off. The captain then commanded AUTO directly, tricking him into
thinking he had the plant, using the image captured by the security bot,
 forcing AUTO to go down into his room. The captain tries to restrain
AUTO, but AUTO manages to wrench himself free by spinning its wheel,
causing the Axiom to tilt, which also causes WALL•E to miss the
holo-detector. AUTO then activates a button that closes the
holo-detector, crushing WALL•E, who is struggling to jam it from
closing. The captain manages to reach AUTO and engage him in another
fight. Having had enough of Captain McCrea's fighting, he attempts to
taser him as soon as Captain calls his name for the last time. AUTO is finally defeated when the
captain switches AUTO's mode from auto to manual, shutting him down and
"relieving him of duty.