World's first restaurant completely run by robots and AI is officially ready for launch
If you worked in a fast food joint and were concerned about robots taking your job, you might want to look away now.
CaliExpress in Pasadena, California, is calling itself the 'first operating restaurant where both ordering and every single cooking process are fully automated'.
So that means instead of a fry cook behind the scenes, you've got 'BurberBot' and 'Flippy'.
Advert
These are two robots that will be whipping up your meal - from flipping the burgers to frying the chips.
They're developed by Miso Robotics - on its website it says Flippy is powered by AI and 'fries items from french fries to chicken nuggets, and works alongside humans to enhance quality and consistency, while creating substantial, measurable cost savings for restaurants'.
The restaurant has even more high tech elements, as customers can make orders via PopID stations.
First you'll need to set up a profile that has your picture and payment information in it, and from then you'll literally be able to order and pay using just your face. Pretty cool - particularly if you're hungry but have left your wallet and phone at home.
Tony Lomelino, Pop ID's director of operations, told ABC7 News the robots were "a little bit more reliable" than humans - and that's not the only upside.
"It's quite a bit cheaper than funding a few full-time staff," he said. According to ABC7, Flippy costs $4,000 - whereas from next year, fast food workers in California will be paid a minimum wage of $20 an hour.
This cost cutting means money can be spent elsewhere - for example on the meat for the burgers, which uses premium Wagyu beef.
There's also the potential safety benefits, with Miso telling Forbes the robots will keep humans away from fryers which can dangerously spit out hot oil.
But before you get too concerned, humans aren't cut out entirely. People will still work at CaliExpress - they're needed to assemble and pack the food, and be a friendly (human) face at the front.
CaliExpress hasn't opened yet - it was originally slated for December, but a spokesperson confirmed to Forbes it would be 'opening soon'. If all goes well, additional stores could follow - and your fast food meal could soon become a whole lot more automated.