Bit Gulp: Seven-Eleven Japan to deploy AI humanoid robots in stores by 2029

Seven-Eleven Japan and Telexistence have announced a partnership to develop and deploy humanoid robots powered by generative AI in convenience stores, with commercial rollout planned for 2029. The collaboration aims to address Japan’s severe labor shortages while transforming retail operations through “Astra,” a humanoid robot equipped with Vision-Language-Action foundation models that can handle routine store tasks.

What you should know: The partnership combines Seven-Eleven’s massive retail footprint with Telexistence’s robotics expertise to create practical AI-powered humanoids for commercial deployment.

• Astra robots will be designed to handle routine in-store operations, allowing human employees to focus on customer service tasks that require human interaction.
• The initiative builds on Seven-Eleven’s existing automation investments and Telexistence’s experience operating beverage restocking robots called “Ghost.”
• Commercial deployment is targeted for 2029, giving the companies four years to develop and validate the technology.

The big picture: This represents one of the most ambitious attempts to bring humanoid robots into mainstream retail environments, leveraging Japan’s acute labor crisis as a testing ground for AI-powered automation.

• Japan faces particularly severe workforce shortages in the retail sector, making it an ideal market for robotic solutions.
• The partnership could establish a blueprint for humanoid robot deployment that other retailers worldwide might follow.

How it works: The collaboration focuses on three core development areas to ensure practical implementation.

• Identifying specific retail operations suitable for automation and testing their effectiveness in real store environments.
• Developing humanoid hardware specifically designed to handle the physical challenges of convenience store operations.
• Building large-scale robot operation datasets by combining Telexistence’s existing data collection platform with Seven-Eleven’s network of over 20,000 stores.

In plain English: Vision-Language-Action models are AI systems that can see their environment, understand spoken or written instructions, and then physically act on those commands—essentially giving robots the ability to watch, listen, and respond like humans do when performing tasks.

Who else is involved: The AI Robot Association (AIRoA) is supporting the initiative with academic and industry expertise.

• AIRoA’s leadership includes Professor Tetsuya Ogata from Waseda University, Professor Yutaka Matsuo from University of Tokyo, and Toyota Motor Corporation.
• The association will help accelerate dataset development and practical implementation of AI-powered robots.
• This collaboration provides access to cutting-edge research in robotics and AI from leading Japanese institutions.

Why this matters: The partnership could accelerate humanoid robot adoption across retail by creating unprecedented training datasets and proving commercial viability.

• Combining Telexistence’s data collection capabilities with Seven-Eleven’s massive store network will generate training resources for Vision-Language-Action models at a scale no competitor can match.
• Success in Japan’s challenging retail environment could validate the business case for humanoid robots globally.
• The initiative addresses a critical societal challenge while potentially creating new economic value through human-robot collaboration.

What they’re saying: The companies frame this as a transformation of employee roles rather than replacement.

• The partnership aims to “provide solutions to rising labor costs and workforce shortages, while redefining the customer experience.”
• Robots will “take on routine in-store operations, allowing employees to focus on services that only humans can deliver—strengthening store appeal and creating new value for customers.”