Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, China has opened its first 'AI Robot Restaurant,' where everything from cooking to service is collaboratively completed by robots.
According to reports from Zhejiang Daily and China News Service, the '24 Solar Terms AI Robot Restaurant' in Sandun Town, Xihu District, Hangzhou officially opened on the 26th. The restaurant's manager introduced that there are a total of eight robots in the store, covering processes from ordering, cooking, serving dishes, to cleaning—accounting for over 60% of the workload. Currently, only two positions, cashier and prep work, use five human staff in total.
The manager said that the robots have a built-in repertoire of hundreds of recipes, with professional chefs' motion data collected in advance. After thousands of AI algorithm adjustments, the robotic arms can precisely control the heat.
It is reported that most of the eight robots in the restaurant are produced locally in Hangzhou. An official from the Social Affairs Office of Sandun Town, Xihu District, said that the robot restaurant effectively supplements the meal supply capacity of the existing elderly canteens.
According to China Ningbo Net, this restaurant, tucked away in an office building business district in Xihu District, has recently become the “novelty” among local residents. There’s no luxury décor, nor are there waiters persistently upselling; instead, a few robots, each diligently performing their assigned roles, take their place. The stir-fry robot deftly flips its wrist, precisely pouring the sweet and sour sauce over the tender West Lake Vinegar Fish; the noodle-cooking robot lifts its arm, and the broth for Pian’er Chuan noodles bubbles with steam; the coffee robot steadily delivers lattes.
What customers find most 'attentive,' however, is the AI face diagnosis area at the entrance. Blink your eyes, stick out your tongue in front of the screen, and within seconds, the system analyzes your constitution and 'customizes' recommended seasonal dishes.
After the meteoric rise of local tech darling 'Hangzhou Six Young Dragons,' the Zhejiang Provincial Government convened a conference to promote artificial intelligence (AI) development, aiming to build Hangzhou into an AI innovation hub. The 'Hangzhou Six Young Dragons' refers to six tech companies that have recently risen to fame in Hangzhou, including robot companies Unitree Robotics and Deep Robotics.