Robots Dressed in Red and Yellow Welcomed Diners at a McDonald’s in Shanghai

Customers walking into a McDonald’s near Shanghai’s Science and Technology Museum got more than they bargained for. Behind the counter stood a row of humanoid robots dressed in the familiar red and yellow uniform, looking every bit like they had stepped straight out of a McDonald’s advertisement and ready to greet anyone who walked through the door.

The robots were built by Keenon Robotics, and the tallest model, the XMAN-R1, moves with an almost unsettling human-like gait. The five day trial ran in mid-March as part of the restaurant’s grand opening, with museum staff having specifically requested the machines to help generate buzz for the occasion. Diners watched as the robots glided between tables delivering meals without dropping a thing, which is more impressive than it sounds given the busy environment they were navigating using built-in cameras to spot and avoid obstacles along the way.

Shortly after the trial, McDonald’s Global Chief Impact Officer Jon Banner took to social media to set the record straight. The robots were not actually taking orders or working the counter, their role was purely to delight customers during the opening days and nothing more.

The restaurant quickly took on the atmosphere of a playground, with smaller robots zipping around the floor and children chasing after them while parents grabbed photos as they passed. Even the cleaning robots got in on the action, moving quietly through the crowd in their modest black housekeeping uniforms, brushes at the ready to tackle any spills as they happened. They were easy enough to spot among the crowd, but that did not stop them from going about their work with quiet efficiency.

Pricing on these machines varies, though humanoid models like the XMAN-R1 are estimated to run around $100,000, with the delivery and cleaning bots likely coming in considerably cheaper. McDonald’s was clear that the whole thing was a promotional exercise, keeping the run short and deliberately limited in scope. Replacing human staff with robots is probably not the brand image they are looking to build, at least not yet.
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