A new robot shop has opened in Beijing to coincide with the World Robot Conference there. With over 100 products from 40 Chinese manufacturers, you can buy everything from mechanical butlers to human-like replicas of Albert Einstein.

Visitors to Robot Mall can interact with a wide range of robots, from dogs to chess playing machines to humanoid companions from companies including Ubtech and Unitree. And in the themed restaurant next door food is cooked by mechanical chefs and served by robots.

China, which has ambitious plans for hosting the World Humanoid Robot Games, is investing heavily in robotics and  AI. Having provided over $20 billion in subsidies last year alone, the Chinese government is planning a trillion-yuan fund  to help start-ups in the sector with the goal of bring robots out of the lab and into homes and everyday life to help combat the challenge of an ageing population.

According to Robot Mall's store director Wang Yifan,

"If robots are to enter thousands of households, relying solely on robotics companies is not enough"

Describing the store as "4S" —  offering sales, spare parts, maintenance and survey services -  like a car dealerships, Wang said the robots range in price from 2,000 yuan ($278.33) to several million yuan.

More Information

Beijing robot store stocks Einstein replicas, chess partners, in AI leadership push (Reuters)

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