Rice Robotics, a Hong Kong-based robot startup, has announced the launch of the Minibot M1, an AI-powered companion robot. Floki. The robot works with a distributed rice AI protocol, integrates features designed to support everyday tasks and promote emotional interaction with users.
Rice Robotics is launching the Minibot M1.
Branded in partnership with Floki, Minibot M1 acts as a personal assistant who can manage your home schedule, get online information and provide dating through interactive features such as music, storytelling, and conversational engagement. Users interacting with the robot will earn $List Token in return, forming part of the data collection and training ecosystem for robot intelligence.
The launch of the robot will involve the introduction of a $rice token, which serves as a utility token for the Rice AI protocol. The token debuts on the Tokenfi Launchpad, allowing staking opportunities for owners of Tokenfi’s native token, $Token. The $rice airdrop is also issued to both holders and stakers of both $floki and $tokens.
Strategic Partnerships, Financing, Market Outlook
Rice Robotics has partnered with several major companies, including SoftBank, Nvidia, Dubai Future Foundation, NTT Japan, and Mitsui Fudosan. The robot is currently deployed in commercial delivery environments across Japan, including unmanned indoor delivery in Japan from the seven eras and office services at SoftBank headquarters.
Floki’s involvement illustrates another step in a broader strategy to expand to tokenized AI and blockchain-enabled services. Through its sister project Tokenfi, Floki aims to promote the tokenization of real assets and data, including AI-generated content and robot learning models.
Early this year, Rice Robot It secured more than $7 million in pre-series funding rounds led by the Alibaba Antrepreneurs Fund, Soul Capital and Audacy Ventures. The company is working towards a distributed data sharing model in which robots can autonomously exchange training data to improve performance without centralized monitoring.
Industry estimates show that the AI robot sector is currently valued at around $22 billion, and is projected to exceed $100 billion by 2030.
The future of ethics, emotion, and companion robots
The rapid integration of artificial intelligence into robotics marks a transformative era of human-machine interaction. As robots move from industrial roles to emotionally responsive peers and personal assistants, society enters unknown territory where machines can affect not only our productivity, but also our social and emotional landscapes.
This convergence of AI, automation, and consumer technology raises important questions about ethics, privacy, and the evolving definition of relationships in the digital age. The next few years will be crucial in shaping ways that coexist with increasingly autonomous and intelligent machines, not just at work, but at home and in everyday life.
