Softbank pulls plug on Pepper the robot - sources
Time's up for Pepper robot. SoftBank Group is slashing jobs at its global robotics business and according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters, it has stopped producing its Pepper robot.
Touted as the first robot with "a heart", Pepper was meant to help plug labor shortages, but struggled to find a global customer base.
Only 27,000 were produced, one source told Reuters, and production ceased last year, three sources confirmed.
The pullback marks a halt in Chief Executive Masayoshi Son's ambitions plan to make SoftBank the leader in the robotics industry, producing human-like machines that could serve customers and babysit kids.
There are plans to cut around 150 jobs in France come September, that's according to documents and four sources
Staff have also been cut in the U.S and UK and redeployed from the robotics business in Japan.