Pepper (robot)

Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics (formerly Softbank Robotics Europe), designed with the ability to read emotions. It was introduced in Japan in June 2014 and manufactured until 2020.

Pepper was introduced in Tokyo on 5 June 2014 by Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank. and was showcased in SoftBank Mobile phone stores in Japan beginning the next day. Pepper's ability to recognize emotion is based on detection and analysis of facial expressions and voice tones. Production of Pepper was paused in June 2021, due to weak demand.

Pepper was scheduled to be available in December 2015 at SoftBank Mobile stores. Pepper went on sale in June 2015 with the first batch of 1,000 units selling out in just 60 seconds.

Pepper was launched in the UK in 2016.

By May 2018, 12,000 Pepper robots had been sold in Europe.

In June 2021, it was reported SoftBank would pause production of Pepper, citing weak demand. At the time, an estimated 27,000 units had been manufactured.

On 11 January 2024, a voice library based on Pepper's voice was released to the public by VoiSona (vocal synthesizer by the same creators as CeVIO).

In 2025 its manufacturer Aldebaran Robotics went into receivership almost certainly ensuring no future for the robot