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Aditya Hadi Pratama · · 1 min readSources: SoftBank stops production of Pepper robot, cuts staff in robotics unit
“SoftBank Group is slashing jobs at its global robotics business and has stopped producing its Pepper robot, once touted as the world’s first robot capable of recognizing human emotions,” Reuters reported, citing sources as well as documents that it has reviewed.
Details:
- Pepper’s production was stopped last year and it would be costly to restart production, according to sources. Only 27,000 robots have been produced to date.
- SoftBank plans to let go half of its 330 employees in France in September. Half of the staff in smaller operations in the US and the UK have already been cut while employees in Japan have been redeployed from the firm’s robotics business.
Context:
- Pepper started after SoftBank’s acquisition of French robotics firm Aldebaran in 2012. However, the sources said that cultural clashes between the French business and the management in Tokyo have hurt the robot’s development.
- SoftBank has shifted its focus to products such as the cleaning robot Whiz. It also retains ownership in SB Logistics and its stakes in robotics firm Berkshire Grey and warehouse robotics firm AutoStore.
Editing by Collin Furtado and September Grace Mahino
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