New leap for embodied AI: Hong Kong to launch 24-hour convenience store run entirely by a humanoid robot

Amid job losses at multi-national companies around the world thanks to the widening influence of artificial intelligence (AI) in our lives, now it has come to light that machines are taking over retail shops as well.

Hong Kong will soon be opening a convenience store that will be entirely operated by a humanoid robot, which will be the city’s latest attempt to bring AI into our daily lives.

The outlet, which will be located on the waterfront of Hung Hom, will operate 24 hours and serve guests in multiple languages.

The plan to open this robot-operated store was revealed in his weekly blog by Hong Kong’s Financial Secretary, Paul Chan. The project is being developed by a company based out of mainland China. This Hong Kong shop will be its first such project beyond the mainland.

All about the robot behind the counter

A humanoid robot called Xiao Gai will be operating the store. The robot will be interacting with customers as soon as the latter approach the shop.

It can encourage browsing for goods inside the shop, initiate conversations with customers, and also provide purchase support as and when required.

The robot will be able to sell creative merchandise, snacks, as well as over-the-counter medicines. The store will be using a nine-square-meter capsule format which can be modified as per types of products being sold.

The first such store opened in China in Beijing, and is known as the Galaxy Space Capsule” store in the city’s Haidian district.

The Beijing outlet, which was the first store in the world to be operated by a humanoid robot, has been serving around a 1000 guests daily since early August 2025.

What is embodied AI?

Embodied AI, in its essence, is the type of AI that is being placed inside man-made systems like robots and vehicles. These systems can then use sensors to perceive their surroundings, take decisions, as well as interact with the real world.

With the coming of these humanoid robot convenience stores, now AI is not limited to chatbots or screens, but can directly interact with the physical environment around as well as interact with people via a robot.

The company, as per Interesting Engineering, says that the capsule stores can create an image for the host cities as a high-tech service destination. It has also claimed that there will be a 30-40 per cent rise in customer traffic post installation.

The firm is also planning to roll out around 100 of such capsules across 10 Chinese cities in the near future.

How embodied AI is being used across the world

Embodied AI is being extensively used across factories of giant corporations like Tesla and Amazon. Tesla has designed its Tesla Optimus robots which can perform repititive and potentially hazardous factory tasks.

Amazon Robotics has manufactured thousands of warehouse robots which are used for moving inventory shelves as well as packages. Their in-built AI helps them navigate, allocates tasks, and also assists in collision avoidance.

Embodied AI is also in use in other sectors like healthcare, agriculture, logistics and delivery, transportation, hospitality.

Space agencies are also using this technology, for example, the Perseverance Rover by NASA is being used to navigate the Martian surface and can conduct scientific experiments with limited human intervention.