Japan’s SoftBank suspends production of chatty robot Pepper

Japan’s SoftBank has suspended production of its humanoid robot Pepper, a company spokeswoman said Tuesday, seven years after the conglomerate unveiled the signature chatty white android to much fanfare.

Pepper robots, used to greet people in stores and hotels in Japan and around the world, have become a symbol of SoftBank’s strategy of pouring resources into new technology including artificial intelligence.

But on Tuesday, a spokeswoman for the firm’s robotics unit told AFP it was halting output owing to an inventory pile-up.

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The company does not disclose the number of gadgets it has sold or rented, the spokeswoman said.

The company was in discussions on potential job reductions with its European robotics unit, which is headquartered in Paris and employs about 330 people, the spokeswoman said.

SoftBank Group, which has poured money into some of Silicon Valley’s biggest names and hottest new ventures, in May reported the best ever annual net profit for a Japanese company, reaping the rewards of a tech rally over the past year.

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