Hot Dogs, Selfies, Sneakers: Humanoid Robot Grabs New York City's Attention

A humanoid robot marched through Midtown Manhattan last week, causing a stir and drawing shocked stares in the heart of New York City.

The robot, branded KOID and priced at around $100,000 (Rs 87.2 lakh), was deployed by global asset management firm KraneShares in a marketing stunt to promote its new Global Humanoid and Embodied Intelligence Index ETF, which launched in June. The robot had previously rung the Nasdaq opening bell.

During the stunt, KOID was seen walking along Fifth Avenue, grabbing a hot dog, posing for selfies, and even walking into a Hoka store, where startled staff helped it try on sneakers.

The event was filmed and posted to Instagram.

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A blind man praised the technology as "wonderful," suggesting it could one day help people who can't use guide dogs due to allergies or other issues. Another passerby said, "I mean, I would love for it to clean my house."

Not all reactions were positive.

"To mess with humanity . . . y'all gotta stop. Satan, I rebuke you to hell," one man yelled.

Asked about a potential robot-led future, a woman said, "It's going to happen."

The robot was built by Chinese robotics company Unitree and supplied by Long Island-based RoboStore. It operates using Stanford's OpenMind software and, while remote-controlled during the Midtown walk, is fully programmable and already in use at research labs and universities.

Since the ETF's launch, KraneShares reports $28 million in assets under management.

According to KraneShares' marketing head Joseph Dube, "At some point these robots will be so common that it's not going to have the wow factor that it currently has. We're definitely taking advantage of a moment in time."

According to the Morgan Stanley Global Humanoid Model, the humanoid robotics market could grow to 1 billion units and generate $5 trillion in annual revenue by 2050.