Hong Kong Opens First 24-Hour Minimarket Managed Solely by a Humanoid Robot
A Hong Kong is set to open the first store that operates 24 hours a day and is entirely managed by a humanoid robot. The establishment will be located along the Hung Hom waterfront in a 9-square-meter modular capsule selling snacks, lifestyle items, and over-the-counter medications. Handling everything from restocking to checkout will be Xiao Gai, the humanoid produced by the Beijing-based company Galbot, specializing in AI and robotics.
This initiative is part of a broader strategy defined by the city: the project is funded by the Hong Kong Investment Corporation (HKIC), and Financial Secretary Paul Chan announced it in his weekly blog, framing it as an effort to bring AI closer to public life and showcase Hong Kong as an international showcase for innovation. HKIC, for its part, views this debut as a signal of an accelerating trend: artificial intelligence, it says, is increasingly entering people’s daily lives in more tangible ways.
What Xiao Gai Can Do
Xiao Gai is a G1 model standing at 173 cm tall, with an arm span of 190 cm, designed to restock shelves, pick products, and manage checkout. Beyond operational tasks, it can initiate conversations with customers and communicate in multiple languages, a detail aimed at turning quick errands into small attractions. Galbot estimates that the novelty of the capsule format could increase foot traffic in the area by 30-40 percent.
From Beijing to the Rest of the World
For Galbot, this is the first launch outside of mainland China. The company already operates the Galaxy Space Capsule in the Haidian district of Beijing, touted as the world's first store of its kind, serving around 1,000 customers a day since August. Based on that precedent, the plan is to reach 100 stores in 10 cities internationally, with the capsule format as a replicable unit.
A high-level government committee for AI development has been established in Hong Kong, with its first meeting expected this month. It remains to be seen how the unmanned store will function as a service and not just a showcase, but for now, the city has its physical observation point, open at all hours, on how automation can operate behind a counter.