Foxconn manufactures Pepper robot

Hon Hai Precision Industry Co., Ltd. (Foxconn / Hon Hai Technology Group; TWSE: 2317), founded by Terry Gou in 1974 and chaired by Young Liu, is the world's largest contract electronics manufacturer and the leading builder of NVIDIA AI servers. In physical AI, Foxconn is co-developing industrial [Humanoid](/companies/humanoid-ai) robots with NVIDIA (on the Isaac GR00T stack) and deploying them on its own production lines, beginning at its Houston AI-server plant, while also pursuing EV contract manufacturing through its Foxtron joint venture.

Pepper is a semi-humanoid robot manufactured by Aldebaran Robotics (formerly SoftBank Robotics Europe, now part of [United robotics group](/companies/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.