Converging AI and Human Roles

AI system · Sales & Service

Pepper

Pepper is a wheeled humanoid robot with a tablet screen on its chest, launched by SoftBank Robotics in June 2014.1 It grew out of the French robotics firm Aldebaran, which SoftBank acquired in 2012, and Reuters reported that it was built by Foxconn in China and was meant to help plug labor shortages.2 The Robot Report describes it as shorter than an adult, with speakers and the chest tablet for interacting with people.3

In Japan, SoftBank sold a consumer model at a base price of ¥198,000 plus monthly plans, excluding tax, and said the first 1,000 units, offered on June 20, 2015, sold out in one minute.4 The business model, Pepper for Biz, followed in October 2015 on a ¥55,000-a-month rental, with apps for office reception and for approaching potential customers, and a platform that stored data from customer approaches for marketing.5

Its work cases sit in front-of-house roles. From June 2016 two Belgian hospitals, CHR Citadelle in Liège and AZ Damiaan in Ostend, used Pepper at reception: a patient gave it their appointment, and it gave directions or walked them to the doctor. That version cost €30,000 with its software developer’s helpdesk, and Fortune noted that Mizuho Bank had put Pepper in some branches in 2015.6 In spring 2018 the Smithsonian placed Pepper robots, donated by SoftBank Robotics, in six of its spaces as an experimental program to draw visitors, translate phrases and support docents.7 MetaRoles covers these as historical cases in AI and robot receptionists, event concierge and guide robots and AI in-store sales assistants.

Reuters reported in 2021, citing sources, that production had stopped in 2020 after about 27,000 units, that sales had suffered from limited functionality and unreliability, and that SoftBank had propped up sales by placing Pepper in its own phone stores.2 Aldebaran, which took over SoftBank’s European robotics business in 2022,8 had said it sold about 17,000 Pepper robots; a judicial panel placed the Paris-based company in receivership in June 2025, The Robot Report reported.3

Illustration: Pepper, the SoftBank humanoid used as a receptionist and guide from 2014 until production stopped in 2020.

Key facts

MakerSoftBank Robotics (from Aldebaran’s work); built by Foxconn in China2
LaunchedJune 20141
TypeWheeled humanoid robot with a chest-mounted tablet3
Price, Japan, 2015¥198,000 base price plus plans (consumer); ¥55,000 a month rental (Pepper for Biz), excluding tax45
UnitsAbout 27,000 produced (Reuters, citing a source, 2021); about 17,000 sold, as stated by Aldebaran (The Robot Report, 2025)23
ProductionStopped in 2020 (Reuters, citing sources)2
StatusAldebaran, the European owner since 2022, placed in receivership in June 202583

Appears in

Sources

  1. SoftBank Robotics Group, Profile: SoftBank Robotics Group corporate profile (company history), retrieved 2026-10-13.
  2. Reuters via Nippon.com, Exclusive: SoftBank shrinks robotics business, stops Pepper production - sources, June 28, 2021.
  3. The Robot Report, Aldebaran, maker of Pepper and Nao robots, put in receivership, June 3, 2025.
  4. SoftBank Corp. and SoftBank Robotics, SoftBank to Offer 1,000 ‘Pepper’ Units on July 31, July 3, 2015.
  5. SoftBank Corp. and SoftBank Robotics, SoftBank to Take Orders for Pepper Enterprise Model, ‘Pepper for Biz’, Starting October 1, July 30, 2015.
  6. Fortune, Softbank’s Pepper Robots Start Work in Belgian Hospitals, June 13, 2016.
  7. Smithsonian Institution (via Newswise), Smithsonian Launches Pilot Program of “Pepper” Robots, April 24, 2018.
  8. TechCrunch, SoftBank Robotics Europe is now Aldebaran (again), September 20, 2022.