Japan’s Kanematsu Corporation and Intuition Robotics announced today a partnership to co-develop a Japanese market version of Intuition’s AI companion robot ElliQ, providing emotional support, ...

Apple is still hard at work on becoming a relevant player in AI. The latest missive from Mark Gurman at Bloomberg suggests that Apple is shifting its artificial intelligence goals to center on new ...

Sharp has announced a cute new pocket-sized AI device called “Poketomo,” designed to be your smart companion for daily chats and emotional support. The device launches in Japan this November and comes ...

In her tiny sunlit Seoul apartment, Kim Jeong-ran sat on her bed, talking affectionately to a cloth doll perched on her lap. “Hyodol, you’re my lovely granddaughter,” the 81-year-old said, cupping the ...

Usage is growing fast. Maoxiang (“catbox”), the biggest companionship app in China, has around 1.2m monthly active users on Apple devices, reckons SensorTower, a market-intelligence firm. And 42% of ...

Many teens are forming emotional connections with AI companions because they feel lonely, curious, or want a place to feel heard. These tools can seem comforting, but they may share unsafe advice, ...

Whatever your views on AI, and there are some extreme ones out there, if history tells us anything, it’s probably that our views matter not. There was a point in time where computers were going to ...

It’s never easy to say goodbye to a friend. But what if that friend was an AI robot toy? That’s a question one little girl’s father is grappling with, after she damaged her AI learning companion. The ...