Mainland Chinese robotics company Galbot launched its first batch of autonomous retail stores featuring humanoid robots in Hong Kong on 31 August 2026, using the city as its overseas business base and a platform for demonstrating its technology, verifying applications and expanding internationally. The first batch comprises three stores, according to i-CABLE.
The launch gives Hong Kong a local setting for the demonstration and application of embodied artificial intelligence, which refers to AI operating through physical machines. However, the supplied reports do not specify where the stores are located, when each began operating, what retail functions the robots perform or how much human supervision is involved.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan said Hong Kong could play a unique and important role in the development of embodied AI and potentially become a centre for research, development and manufacturing of next-generation robots. His comments set out a development ambition rather than confirming that the city has already become such a hub.
Chan cited Hong Kong’s dense population and its varied and efficient application scenarios as advantages for testing the technology. He also pointed to the city’s international connections, research and innovation ecosystem, financial support, intellectual-property protection mechanisms, access to international data and university-trained talent.
He said Hong Kong’s links with neighbouring Greater Bay Area cities could connect the city to advanced manufacturing capabilities. The launch itself does not establish that manufacturing operations have begun in Hong Kong or as a result of the stores.
The Hong Kong Investment Corporation invested in Galbot approximately two years before the launch, although the supplied reports do not give the investment amount or an exact date. Its chief executive, Clara Chan, said the investment had produced fruitful results and expressed hope that embodied AI would support Hong Kong’s industrial, economic and social development.
Paul Chan said the government would continue supporting embodied AI while developing rules and standards, ensuring safety and leaving room for experimentation with new technologies. Specific requirements for the retail stores and other deployments have not been announced in the supplied material.