Hong Kong's first real-world service robot starts work at Lan Kwai Fong
AI² Robotics has deployed its AlphaBot 2 robot as a bartender at Lan Kwai Fong, marking Hong Kong's first real-world service robot in an open, authentic scene.
The robot, powered by the company's proprietary brain-inspired embodied intelligence large model NeuroVLA, serves cocktails and interacts with customers. The company said the deployment introduces a new consumer and interactive experience to Lan Kwai Fong, which is known for its vibrant nightlife and international visitors. The robot is expected to operate legally, compliantly and sustainably in a real commercial environment.
Lan Kwai Fong presents a demanding setting for robots due to high-density dynamic crowds, multicultural environments, noisy soundscapes, complex lighting and instant social interactions. According to the report, NeuroVLA mimics the coordination of human brain, cerebellum and spinal cord, and includes modules for semantic understanding, task planning, high-frequency motion coordination and rapid safety responses. Test data cited by the company show that the architecture can reduce robot motion jitter by more than 75 percent, achieve reflex responses within 20 milliseconds after a collision, and consume only about 0.4 watts. The robot can adjust its actions in real time to cope with sudden changes such as lighting shifts, people blocking its view or shaking glasses.
Unlike robots developed mainly for demonstrations, AlphaBot 2 is working without a stage or a protective glass cover, facing real customers and completing real service tasks. The company said its goal is to build general-purpose robots that can actually do productive work rather than merely show off abilities. In late 2025, AI² Robotics launched Zhì Mó Fāng (AI Cube), a modular embodied intelligence service space operating in more than ten Chinese cities, where robot staff can make coffee, ice cream and matcha. The Lan Kwai Fong deployment moves AlphaBot 2 from relatively standardized commercial scenarios to a more open, complex and dynamic human environment.
The company highlighted Hong Kong's role as a gateway between mainland China and the global market. Having a Chinese robot from the Greater Bay Area serve international customers at Lan Kwai Fong is seen as a real-world practice of Chinese embodied intelligence expanding overseas. "Without AI, robots are just hardware; without hardware, AI is just code; without real scenarios, robots will never leave the laboratory," said Guo Yandong, founder and CEO of AI² Robotics. The company added that more robots and scenarios will be launched in overseas markets in the near future.