SoftBank launches robot venture with Alibaba, Foxconn

A woman using a mobile phone walks past the logo of SoftBank Corp in Tokyo May 11, 2015.

/Toru Hanai

Japan's SoftBank Corp said on Thursday that it was setting up a joint venture with Alibaba and Foxconn Technology to sell its human-like robot Pepper to consumers around the world.The robots - which the mobile phone and Internet conglomerate envisions serving as baby-sitters, medical workers or even party companions - are already being used at stores including SoftBank's own mobile phone shops, but the companies said they would now be available to general consumers.SoftBank said it would have a 60 percent stake in the joint venture, with Alibaba and Foxconn holding 20 percent each. (Reporting by Yoshiyasu Shida and Ritsuko Ando; Editing by Chris Gallagher)