On August 31, 2026, AI² Robotics, a leading embodied intelligence company in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, announced that a special bartender has officially started work in Lan Kwai Fong, Hong Kong. The AlphaBot 2 (Aibao) robot, equipped with an original brain-inspired architecture embodied large model, has joined a Lan Kwai Fong bar to serve cocktails and interact with customers.
This is not only the first real-world service robot to take up a post at an internationally renowned nightlife landmark in Hong Kong, but also marks AI² Robotics' successful completion of the full closed loop for Chinese embodied intelligence going global — from hardware export and customs clearance compliance, to obtaining local beverage sales qualifications in Hong Kong and establishing a paid service system. Aibao has achieved legal, compliant, and sustainable routine operations in a real commercial environment.
At the same time, this will bring a brand-new consumption and interaction experience to Lan Kwai Fong.
As one of Hong Kong's most international and iconic nightlife landmarks, Lan Kwai Fong has long attracted global visitors with its distinctive consumer experience and innovative urban energy. Actively embracing AI and new technologies is becoming a key direction for Lan Kwai Fong to continuously upgrade the customer experience. With the arrival of AI² Robotics' Aibao, robots have truly become part of that experience. It does more than serve a cocktail — it creates new connections among technology, service, and human interaction in a real nightlife setting.
Starting from the Greater Bay Area and using Hong Kong as a window, this collaboration is both an exploration of embodied intelligence entering international real-world commercial scenarios and a natural fit between technological innovation and urban consumer experiences. AI² Robotics is moving Chinese embodied intelligence from "capable of demonstration" to "truly on the job," bringing robots into the daily lives of consumers worldwide.
Guo Yandong (left), founder and CEO of AI² Robotics, and Allan Zeman (right), chairman of Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong Group.
"Brain-inspired" takes on the "toughest test."
Why is Lan Kwai Fong so challenging?
Lan Kwai Fong packs more than 100 bars and restaurants into a dense, neon-lit stretch where crowds from around the world converge. The combination of high-traffic foot flow, cultural diversity, loud acoustics, complex lighting and instant social interaction makes it a rigorous test of a robot's perception, decision-making, movement and interaction abilities.
For human bartenders, these conditions are routine. For robots, every variable can become a fresh challenge.
Aibao's ability to pass this toughest exam hinges on its brain-inspired embodied large model, NeuroVLA.
NeuroVLA maps the human brain's cortex-cerebellum-spinal cord coordination onto robot control: the cortex layer handles semantic understanding and task planning, the cerebellum layer manages high-frequency motion coordination and dynamic correction, and the spinal cord layer ensures rapid safety responses.
The architecture isn't meant to make robots look more human. It lets them continuously perceive, understand, decide and adjust actions amid the real world's unpredictable changes.
Experimental data show NeuroVLA cuts robot motion jitter by more than 75%, triggers reflex responses within 20 milliseconds of a collision, and consumes only about 0.4 watts. When bar lighting shifts suddenly, people block the view or glasses wobble, Aibao adjusts in real time and keeps serving reliably.
No exhibition booth, just a bar counter.
Previously, a robot's sophistication was judged by its ability to deliver a polished demo.
But demos have scripts; real work doesn't.
Real robots must face real people, real needs, and unexpected events that can occur at any time.
For its Lan Kwai Fong deployment, Aibao had no booth, no glass enclosure, and no demo script. It stood at the counter of a real bar, facing real customers and delivering real service.
This is also the core logic behind Zhi Square's push for "productivity-oriented general-purpose robots": robots are not meant to prove what they can do, but to actually do things for people.
In late 2025, Zhi Square launched "Zhi Cube," the world's first modular embodied-intelligence service space. It now operates regularly in more than a dozen provinces and cities, including Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen, where robot attendants can autonomously prepare coffee, ice cream, matcha, and more. The Lan Kwai Fong deployment further takes Aibao from relatively standardized commercial service settings into more open, complex, and dynamic real-world human scenarios.
If standardized scenarios test whether a robot can do the job, Lan Kwai Fong tests:
Can it work amid change, and can it do the job well in complex environments?
It may seem like merely moving from one bar counter to another, but it represents a leap for general-purpose robots from "functional availability" to "scenario competence."
The journey begins in the Greater Bay Area.
Zhipingfang accelerates its overseas expansion.
Choosing Hong Kong's Lan Kwai Fong has deeper significance.
Hong Kong is an important window connecting mainland China with global markets, while Lan Kwai Fong is a highly internationalized urban commercial space. Here, a Chinese robot from the Greater Bay Area directly faces consumers from around the world.
This is not just the rollout of a commercial service; it is a real-world exercise in taking Chinese embodied intelligence global.
Today, Chinese embodied-intelligence robots, represented by Aibao, are moving from international exhibition halls into real overseas application scenarios, shifting from 'demonstrating technology' to 'creating real value.'
Behind this change, Chinese embodied intelligence is moving from 'technology validation' to 'productivity validation.'
A truly general-purpose robot should not work only in familiar places. It must be able to operate across different environments, tasks, and people, continuously creating value in real-world scenarios.
From factory floors to commercial services, and from Hong Kong to more global cities ahead, Aibao is expanding not just its application scenarios but the capability boundaries of general-purpose robots.
Dr. Guo Yandong, founder and CEO of Zhi², once said: 'Without AI, a robot is just hardware; without hardware, AI is just code; without real-world scenarios, robots will never leave the laboratory.'
Now, Aibao is standing behind the bar at Lan Kwai Fong, answering that question with a real shift.
The best showcase for a robot is never on a display stand, but in the real, open world, doing real work.
Starting from the Greater Bay Area and using Hong Kong as a window, Zhi² is bringing general-purpose robots into more real-world scenarios globally, turning them into genuine productivity. The successful end-to-end operation in Hong Kong, its first stop, marks Zhi²'s acceleration into overseas markets, with more robots and scenarios set to light up international markets in the near future.
This article was provided by Zhi² and republished with permission by QbitAI. The views expressed are those of the author.