Macau | Local AI company Singou to provide some 5,000 robots yearly to Chinese real estate firm

Macau (MNA) – Local Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics company Singou Technology (Macau) Ltd. has agreed with Chinese real estate portal Juwai.com to supply them with an estimated 5,000 customer service robots per year, the company’s CEO, Hon Chi Tin, told Macau News Agency (MNA).

The local company signed the agreement with Juwai.com on April 11 of this year at the Macau Science Convention Centre.

“Juwai.com is the largest and most influential online platform for Chinese looking to purchase real estate overseas, with our service robots to be distributed to their overseas real estate offices,” Hon told MNA.

Singou will also supply an AI engine to help Juwai.com crunch data from its years of experience serving Chinese international property buyers, roll out improved chatbot features, and improve and extend its consumer service team in Shanghai to Chinese international property buyers.

The robots, named Butler 1, will be programmed in the coming months with the data and insights collected by Juwai.com in the last five years in regard to serving Chinese international property buyers.

The robots will then be deployed at international property industry events in China and in showrooms and offices in Malaysia, Singapore, the US, Australia, Canada or the UK for training purposes.

“The robots are intended to be used by real estate developers and agents who don’t have team members who speak Mandarin, so that they can assist Chinese buyers who come into their offices,” Juwai.com Global PR & Communications Director Dave Platter told MNA, “Because it looks friendly and can move and approach customers, it will offer a better experience than alternatives. They are not intended to replace agents or salespeople — but to increase the range of buyers that these can serve.”

A version of the robots will also be offered to homeowners at a cost of about US$2,000 as a tool for monitoring isolated elderly individuals who are at risk of accidents and protecting homes at risk of break-in or maintenance problems.

“This is still an early-stage project. The first robot is likely going overseas in the next 30 days. It will be going as a pilot and to gather data for the AI engine,” Mr. Platter added.

The Global PR & Communications Director said, however, that the real deployment will only begin later this year.

“The number of Chinese real estate robots that eventually go overseas will depend upon demand, but we reasonably foresee as many as several hundred by the end of 2019,” said Mr. Platter.

On August 2017, Singou presented its locally designed and developed service robots – the ‘Singou Guard I’ – with an agreement signed in January this year with Macau CTS Hotel Management (International) Ltd. for the introduction of robots to local hotels and restaurants.

[Edited by Sheyla Zandonai]