• KDDI expands partnership with robotics and AI firm Avita
• Japanese telco will trial humanoid robots in retail stores later this year

BARCELONA – #MWC26 – KDDI has unveiled plans to introduce humanoid robots into retail stores by the autumn, after expanding its artificial intelligence partnership with Japanese startup Avita to branch into the world of physical AI.

The deal, announced this week (in Japanese), sees KDDI provide the communications technologies that link cloud-based data processing infrastructure and robots, with humanoids planned to be operated at the Japanese operator’s au-branded mobile phone shops, medical and welfare facilities, art museums and recreational facilities, among others.

Speaking to TelecomTV in Barcelona, KDDI VP for consumer business strategy, Toshiro Akiyama, confirmed that commercial trials are scheduled for autumn, with plans to deploy the robots – named Hinata, which means ‘place in the sun’ – in retail and convenience stores later this year.

Together, the two companies have already launched a remote customer service system that enables consumers to access a variety of essential services – such as telecoms, finance, health care, and home support – guided by an AI avatar. Last June, the duo launched the avatar at Lawson convenience stores.

The humanoids, which are on display at KDDI’s MWC26 booth (see pic above), are designed to learn and acquire more natural conversational ability through interaction with customers.

Avita, which is headed up by Hiroshi Ishiguro, professor at the University of Osaka’s Intelligence Robotics Laboratory, announced at MWC26 that it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Hangzhou-based Unitree, a world-leading robotics firm that specialises in humanoid deliveries. The partnership could give the hyper-realistic androids human-like bipedal locomotion (the ability to walk on two ‘legs’).

In February, Avita acquired robot maker A-Lab, before agreeing to a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with another robot maker called Booster Robotics.

- James Pearce, Contributing Editor, TelecomTV