The verified answer
As of Sep 2026, DEPLOY verifies SoftBank Robotics (Pepper): 1 model, 3 deployments across 3 regions, $100.0M raised, 1 active incident. 1 source back the record.
CategoryHumanoids
Overview
Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics (formerly SoftBank Robotics Europe, now part of United robotics group), designed to read emotions and interact with humans in retail, banking, hospitality, and healthcare settings. Unveiled in Tokyo in June 2014 by SoftBank founder Masayoshi Son, Pepper was the first commercial robot marketed as having a heart, with approximately 27,000 units produced before manufacturing was paused in 2020-2021 due to weak demand.
Aldebaran Robotics was acquired by SoftBank in 2012 for USD 100 million, rebranded as SoftBank Robotics in 2016, sold to United Robotics Group in 2022, and rebranded back to Aldebaran before entering receivership in 2025.
Verified record
- Verified deployments
- 3 deployments on file
- Active incidents
- 1 incident on file
Valuation of record
Company-claimedPriced roundAcquisition post-money
Key facts
Stage
Founder
Manufacturer
Parent company
Units produced
Launch
Production halted
Receivership
Price
Data & sources
Web sources
1
1 source backing this record.View all →
Models (1)
View all models →Partnerships
Every company SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most-frequent partners
- 1Foxconn (Hon Hai)1× joint5 total
- 2SoftBank Group1× joint6 total
- 3United Robotics Group1× joint1 total
Most recent
- with United Robotics Groupoperating
- Foxconn manufactures Pepper robot2014-06-05with Foxconn (Hon Hai)operating
- with SoftBank Groupoperating
SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) on the deployment map
View the global map3 verified deployments across 3 regions, newest verified Jan 2017. Explore where SoftBank Robotics (Pepper)'s robots are operating, by place and type.
View the full SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) deployment record →
Relationships
Current leadership (3)
- Bruno Maisonnier Founder of Aldebaran RoboticsSEC-verified
- Masayoshi Son Founder & CEO, SoftBank Group (unveiled Pepper in 2014)SEC-verified
- Thomas Hahn Founder & CEO, United Robotics Group (acquired SoftBank Robotics Europe in 2022)SEC-verified
ArrivalsBruno Maisonnier from NAO Robot
DeparturesBruno Maisonnier to NAO Robot
Founders (1)
- Bruno Maisonniercofounderno longer at company
previously at NAO Robot, SoftBank Robotics
later founded Aldebaran Robotics
Safety record
Only active incidents are counted. Retracted incidents are excluded from this summary but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Full safety record: incidents, sourcing, and exposure data →
Incidents affecting SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) (1)
Includes incidents linked directly to this company, to its models, or to deployments of its models or under its operation. Retracted incidents are excluded from this view but remain reachable at their canonical URLs.
Operator customers (1)
- SoftBank Robotics (Pepper)3 deployments
Recent coverage
SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) in third-party press
Peers
101 peers across 1 segment. Every SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) competitor derived from shared form-factor and application-domain edges.
humanoid(101)
68 companies in this segment · competitive (HHI 574.5255335898561) · leader Figure AI at 1207%
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- 1X Technologiesdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AI2 Roboticsdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AIST Humanoid Research Groupdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- Acuminodirect competitor(inferred)moderate
- AgiBotdirect competitor(inferred)moderate
Financial state
- Total funding
- $100.0M
- Reporting basis
- private_reported
- Lifecycle stage
- early
- Counterparty risk class
- moderate
Each numeric field carries its own basis marker. Aggregators report a number; this surface preserves the source class so verification depth travels with the value.
Partnerships
3 total · 3 operating · 3 ended
Every company SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) has built with, alongside the ones only announced in a press release.
Most recent
- with United Robotics Groupoperating
- Foxconn manufactures Pepper robot2014-06-05with Foxconn (Hon Hai)operating
- with SoftBank Groupoperating
Most-frequent partners
- 1Foxconn (Hon Hai)1× joint5 total
- 2SoftBank Group1× joint6 total
- 3United Robotics Group1× joint1 total
All 3 partnerships
open in the atlas →- investment2022-01-01concludedoperating
- manufacturing2014-06-05concludedoperating
- investment2012-01-01concludedoperating
Funding rounds (1)
- Acquisition2012-01-01
$100M(reported) · $500M post
Investors: SoftBank (lead)
Timeline
Every recorded move in SoftBank Robotics (Pepper)’s history, most recent first: funding rounds, partnerships, acquisitions, supply-chain starts, key hires, and press.
DepartureBruno Maisonnier departs
2026-08-23Bruno Maisonnier left to join NAO Robot
ArrivalBruno Maisonnier joins
2026-08-23Bruno Maisonnier joined from NAO Robot
PartnershipUnited Robotics Group acquires SoftBank Robotics Europe
2022-01-01United Robotics Group (URG) acquired SoftBank Robotics Europe (maker of Pepper and Nao) in 2022 and rebranded it back to Aldebaran. URG stopped funding Aldebaran in 2024, leading to receivership in 2025.
PartnershipFoxconn manufactures Pepper robot
2014-06-05Foxconn manufactured the Pepper humanoid robot at its facilities in China for SoftBank Robotics. Production was paused in 2020-2021.
Funding roundAcquisition funding round
2012-01-01Acquisition raising $100000000
PartnershipSoftBank Group acquires Aldebaran Robotics
2012-01-01SoftBank Group acquired French robotics company Aldebaran Robotics (maker of Pepper and Nao) for USD 100 million in 2012, rebranding it as SoftBank Robotics in 2016.
Recent activity
Every change to this record is dated, sourced, and independently verified where marked.
- Record createdJun 8, 2026
Added to the verified registry
- Incident recordedJun 28, 2021
Pepper robots reported to make mechanical errors, take unplanned breaks, and fail to...
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2017
Pepper at Montreal
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJan 1, 2016
Pepper at London
- Deployment verifiedVerifiedJun 6, 2014
Pepper at Tokyo
Sources (1)
Common questions
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Are there any incidents involving SoftBank Robotics (Pepper)?
Is SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) safe?
Methodology: Verified · 1 source (no primary) · last reviewed 2026-08-21
Verification posture
Verified
Low confidence
Review state
Stable
Last reviewed 2026-08-21
Sources by quality tier
- 1
- unclassified
- Unclassified source
The framework is documented at /methodology. Corrections at /corrections. Reviewer: DEPLOY editorial team.
Methodology surface for SoftBank Robotics (Pepper).Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics10 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
- Dobot6 models
- AgiBot5 models
- AheadForm5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
In the press
Recent coverage mentioning SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) from third-party publications. Automatically surfaced; not part of the verified registry record.
Pepper robot trust study finds social gestures can backfire
A Drexel study using Pepper found errors cut trust and reliance, while social gestures made mistakes appear more interpersonal than technical. The post Pepper robot trust study…
SoftBank Robotics Pepper Sets Guinness Record with New AI Robot Pepper+ - mezha.net
<a…
Pepper (robot) - Wikipedia
Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics, designed to read emotions. Approximately 27,000 units were produced before manufacturing was paused in…
Aldebaran, maker of Pepper and Nao robots, put in receivership
Aldebaran Robotics, maker of the Pepper and Nao humanoid robots, filed for bankruptcy in February 2025 after United Robotics Group stopped funding the company.
Nao (robot) - Wikipedia
NAO is an autonomous, programmable humanoid robot developed by Aldebaran Robotics. Aldebaran entered receivership in France in June 2025.
SoftBank Robotics Pepper Humanoid Robot can recognize faces and emotions - Gadget Flow
<a…
SoftBank's robotics ambitions short circuit as Pepper loses power - nippon.com
<a…
Exclusive: SoftBank shrinks robotics business, stops Pepper production - sources
SoftBank stopped production of the Pepper humanoid robot and cut around 165 jobs in France, citing weak demand. Only 27,000 units were produced.
"The Robot Made Me Do It" – Robots Can Encourage Risk-Taking Behavior in People - SciTechDaily
<a…
Makers of Sophia the robot plan mass rollout amid pandemic - Interaksyon
<a…
AI Revolutionizing The Museum Experience At The Smithsonian - Forbes
<a…
SoftBank Is Opening a Café Where Pepper Robots Will Work Alongside Humans - Interesting Engineering
<a…
Machine-readable surfaces
- Markdown mirror: /companies/pepper-robot.md
- RSS feed: /companies/pepper-robot/feed.xml
- JSON-LD: embedded in this page’s head
- REST API: /v1/companies/1718d23f-35ab-44d0-977d-130f0a940558
- Revision history: /companies/pepper-robot/history
- Data documentation: /data
- Query this programmatically: Deploy MCP
Peer companies
- Unitree Robotics10 models
- DLR Institute of Robotics and Mechatronics6 models
- Dobot6 models
- AgiBot5 models
- AheadForm5 models
- Boston Dynamics5 models
Video
Pepper is the emotional humanoid robot built to benefit mankind. There's only one thing Pepper isn't: a finished product. That's where you come in: http://devel
Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by SoftBank Robotics, designed with the ability to read emotions.
Before SoftBank announced their intention to acquire ARM, here's the latest SoftBank Pepper Personal Robot with Artificial Intelligence deployed all over Japan,
#AVTweeps #AV #ISE2020 ISE 2020: SoftBank Robotics Europe Demos Pepper the Humanoid Robot View all the latest product demos, live interviews and more from t
Softbank robotics Pepper Robo increasing savings and customer interaction with artificial Intelligence. Softbank Robotics Pepper humanoid Robot technology expl
#nao #naorobot #ai #pepper #pepperrobot #peppers #softbank #softbankrobotics Pepper and Nao are humanoid robots developed by SoftBank Robotics. Pepper is desig
Heat Index
Category contender85/100
A composite of competitive footprint, funding, press velocity, active partnerships, and supply-chain edges. Different from the Intelligence score below (which is per-form-factor productization). Non-robotics companies cap at 25.
Reality vs attention
SoftBank Robotics (Pepper) draws attention at the 56th percentile but verifies reality at the 18th percentile among humanoids. Hype Gap +38.6, 16th widest among humanoids.
6-month trend
Analysis
Safety profile within acceptable range for category. Deployment footprint remains limited relative to category peers.
Signal flags
Dimension breakdown
Verified signal
Attention (reach, not merit)
DEPLOY Intelligence scores are computed from verified registry data: confirmed deployments, disclosed funding rounds, regulatory filings, active job listings, video viewership, and press coverage. Confidence ratings reflect data availability. Scores update nightly.
DEPLOY Indices — verified vs claimed
Last computed: Sep 6, 2026