AI-powered robot assistant helps Germans shop

A humanoid robot with an Austrian accent is helping shoppers to navigate through a home improvement store in the southern German town of Pocking, near the Austrian border.

Named "Schotti," the Chinese-made robot can answer customers' questions about where to find products, has learned the store's floorplan, and can walk shoppers to the right aisle.

In the store, Schotti greets customers by saying: "Hello, I am the robot and I am helping you look for things. What do you need?”

The machine, dressed like a store employee and carrying a tablet on its front, has been on test at the hardware store since the beginning of April 2026.

A different robot had been tested there from October 2025 but unlike its predecessor, Schotti can both walk and talk.

Schotti was programmed and trained by Florian Weichselbaumer and his team at labland.ai, which describes itself as a company for "3D Printing, Robotics & AI Solutions.”

According to Weichselbaumer, quoted in German tabloid Bild, Schotti is by far the cheapest member of staff at the DIY store. Taking into account his purchase price of 80,000 euros (93,600 USD) and his service life, his hourly wage would be around 1.70 euros (1.99 USD).

"At the moment, it can move around and perform actions; we can teach it things,” said Weichselbaumer, adding the purpose was not to replace humans.

“Rather, our approach is actually to use robotics to improve the situation for employees - or for people in general.”

For now, Schotti is still far from fully autonomous. The robot appears in the home improvement store two to three times a week, and much of its movements are still controlled remotely by a member of the labland.ai team.

"With every route it takes, it becomes a little smarter,” said Weichselbaumer.

Schotti is also being tested in a telecommunications store, where it has been working for the past three weeks as a welcome manager.

There, the same robot takes on a different personality: instead of a male voice with an Austrian accent, Schotti uses a female voice and speaks German, greeting customers with the words: "Hello, my name is Schotti and will help you in the shop.”

In that setting, it can guide visitors to a coffee machine or direct them to the next available employee. The aim for labland.ai is to test how one robot can adapt to different roles while learning to work alongside humans. — Reuters