TOKYO: SoftBank Group is in talks to sell the Paris-based robotics business behind its Pepper android to Germany's United Robotics Group, according to sources and documents reviewed by Reuters, scaling back a business it once touted as a major growth driver.
Additional staff have quit because of low morale, forcing SoftBank to advertise positions to fill core functions, according to the sources and a review of job postings. In addition to selling Pepper and Nao, a small humanoid robot, United Robotics also markets robots like Sawyer, an industrial robot that can operate alongside humans.