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In Beijing, a humanoid chef could cook your next meal as city allows robots in catering

Beijing residents will soon be able to taste fried food prepared by robot chefs after the city granted its first food service licence for humanoids.

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A humanoid robot from UB Tech at the World Robot Conference in Beijing, Aug. 22, 2024.   Photo: Simon Song
Ben Jiangin Beijing

Beijing residents will soon be able to taste a wide selection of fried food prepared by robot chefs after the Chinese capital granted the city’s first food-service licence for humanoids, clearing regulatory hurdles for use of the technology in the catering sector.

The licence was awarded to robot start-up EncoSmart last Thursday by the Beijing Municipal Administration for Market Regulation, setting the stage for its Lava humanoid series of robots to replace chefs at catering kitchens across the city, according to a report by state-backed Beijing News on the weekend.

The Beijing-based firm’s Lava robots can prepare fried foods such as french fries, which takes two minutes to cook and serve, as well as fried chicken, among others, according to the media report, adding that the system is designed to teach itself to cook new dishes.

The robots can also recognise various ingredients and determine cooking times to enhance the flavour of the meals, thanks in part to their visual-perception ability.

SoftBank Group Pepper humanoid robots stand behind a counter while a customer places an order at the Pepper Parlor cafe in Tokyo in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg
SoftBank Group Pepper humanoid robots stand behind a counter while a customer places an order at the Pepper Parlor cafe in Tokyo in 2019. Photo: Bloomberg

While catering robots are just taking root in China, EncoSmart founder and chief executive Chen Zhen said tech advancements and the sheer scale of the country’s catering industry will help build up the necessary data to improve catering humanoids.

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Ben Jiang
Ben is a Beijing-based technology reporter for the Post focusing on emerging start-ups. He has previously covered Chinese tech for publications including KrAsia and TechNode.
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