The article reports on the growing trend of renting robots instead of buying them outright, with companies like Diligent Robotics offering its Moxi robot to hospitals on a subscription basis. There are around 100 Moxi robots in operation across US hospitals, with service and maintenance included in the rental deal. According to Ethan Qi, associate director at Counterpoint Research, renting humanoid robots for tasks like dancing or serving guests is becoming increasingly popular, especially in China. One company, 1X, plans to offer a home helper robot on a subscription basis for $499 per month.
Written by the local model on 2026-08-21,
using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the
same event (that is the story summary below).
Why this leaning score
The article presents a neutral perspective on the topic of robot rentals and their applications in various industries, avoiding emotive language that might be associated with a particular political leaning. The tone is informative, with quotes from industry experts providing context to the service model of robotics-as-a-service. However, there is a slight hint of a pro-business or market-oriented perspective, as the article highlights the benefits of subscription-based services and lower upfront costs for customers.
Written under an earlier scoring contract, which gave a paragraph
rather than checkable quotes. Re-analysing this article replaces it.
Leaning score +0.20 for article 89 · logged 2026-07-30
- Published
In hospitals across the US, patients and staff have become accustomed to seeing a one-armed, four-foot high, friendly-looking white robot going about its business.
Nurses have been known to greet Moxi, as the robot is called by its maker Diligent Robotics, with a "good morning", a high five or even a hug.
Moxi – which shuttles medical supplies around hospitals – might respond by displaying its heart-shaped LED eyes and a beep beep greeting of its own.
"We get a lot of feedback that Moxi feels like a part of the team," says Todd Brugger, chief operating officer at the Texas-based robotics company, which has around 100 of the wheeled robots in operation.
uncertain
which → publish → operation
But bringing Moxi into a hospital doesn't mean buying one of the machines outright.
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bringing → bring → machines
Instead, it is among robots available to rent or on a subscription basis.
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it → rent → basis
Robotics companies use the term robotics-as-a-service.
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companies → use → service
As well as the robot itself, service, maintenance and upgrades are bundled into the deal.
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service → bundle → deal
A human engineer sitting in a remote control room may be on hand to take control of the robot if needed.
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engineer → sit → robot
In Moxi's case, Brugger says: "It lowers the expense and the outlay for the hospital because you're not paying for the full purchase up front.
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you → say → front
Secondly, and I think more importantly, this tech is evolving very quickly… we're routinely evolving the software and capabilities of the robot."
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we → think → robot
Robot rentals are becoming available for anything from a day to years for a variety of purposes, from Moxi's hospital deliveries to robot bartenders or autonomous weeders for farms.
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rentals → become → farms
Increasingly this includes early humanoid models, designed to behave and look like humans, and operate in environments designed for people.
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this → include → people
Given humanoids are still a work-in-progress, they are currently rented out for clearly defined tasks.
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they → give → tasks
That often means entertainment.
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That → mean → entertainment
Depending on the model, a machine might dance, sing or serve guests at a wedding or corporate event.
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machine → depend → wedding
Ethan Qi, a Beijing-based associate director at Counterpoint Research, says an act like a humanoid dance routine is relatively simple to pull off.
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act → base → routine
"You hire a real dancer to perform and video it.
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You → hire → it
The video is then used to train the robot.
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video → use → robot
Then the robot will know how to dance.
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robot → know → ?
But the engineer will still often go with the robot in case the environment or the platform isn't simple," he says.
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he → go → robot
But ambitions for humanoid rentals go beyond the entertaining dance routines that are shared on social media, often in China.
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that → go → China
California-based 1X plans to start shipping its home helper robot NEO later this year.
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1X → base → robot
"Early access" customers in the US can either pay $20,000 (£15,000) outright for their own robot, or $499 (£378) per month on a subscription basis.
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customers → pay → basis
Dar Sleeper, vice president of product and design at the company, says: "While many customers will buy a NEO outright, a subscription significantly lowers the upfront cost, making it affordable for far more people."
Part of the appeal of a rental over an outright purchase is the speed at which robotics technology is improving.
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technology → say → which
If you splash out on a new humanoid now it is likely to soon be obsolete.
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it → splash → humanoid
Qi says: "Every year the robotics companies release a new model, a new iteration of the hardware.
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companies → say → hardware
If you own a robot, you can't trade it for a new one, but if you rent a robot, you can always rent the newest."
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you → own → newest
A rental also removes the need for deep technical expertise – you can simply take your problems to the manufacturer or rental platform.
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you → remove → manufacturer
Qi says: "It helps to solve technical problems because customers don't know how to code the robots."
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customers → say → robots
It's not just humanoids that are driving demand for robot rentals.
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that → drive → rentals
One company, Chicago-based Formic, has a fleet of more than 250 industrial robots operating on a robot-as-a-service basis.
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company → base → basis
"Everything is included," says Shawn Fitzgerald, chief revenue officer at Formic.
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Fitzgerald → include → Formic
"If the robot arm burns out, that's on us and we need to come bring you a new one."
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we → burn → one
He argues that Formic's flat monthly payment model "levels the playing field" for smaller companies that traditionally haven't been able to afford to buy factory robots outright.
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that → argue → robots
Formic is also currently testing humanoid robots for industrial uses.
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Formic → test → uses
Alongside flat rates, other robot rental payment schemes are emerging.
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schemes → emerge → rates
Marco Wang, an analyst at Interact Analysis, says that some companies have started requesting that rental fees be directly linked to how much human labour a robot can save them.
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robot → say → them
For robot manufacturers, alongside the revenues, a rental scheme offers a way to trial their products in real-world scenarios and gather helpful data in the process.
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scheme → offer → process
It's still immature," says Wang.
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Wang → say → ?
Some firms in China – the early leader in humanoids and home to a growing number of rental schemes – have leased their creations to work in hotels, a helpful training ground for future domestic use.
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firms → grow → use
Others offer them to rent on cleaning service apps.
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Others → offer → apps
Chinese firms have started offering rentals overseas, through partner businesses.
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firms → start → businesses
…and 4 more, not listed.
