GMO Internet Group Deploys Japan's First 'Humanoid Ambulance' in Tokyo

GMO Internet Group launched Japan's first "humanoid ambulance" on the streets of Tokyo in September 2026, a maintenance van designed to repair broken humanoid robots on the spot. The vehicle carries diagnostic equipment, spare parts, repair tools and engineers, and if a robot cannot be fixed at the roadside, a spare humanoid on board can take over immediately while the damaged unit is transported back to GMO's Humanoid Lab in Shibuya.

For now, only one ambulance has been stationed at GMO's Tokyo headquarters, and the service covers only humanoids deployed by GMO AI & Robotics Trading (GMO AIR), with dispatch decided case by case. GMO AIR is the company behind a trial of Unitree-built humanoid robots working as baggage handlers at Tokyo's Haneda Airport in collaboration with JAL Ground Service, a project scheduled to run through 2028. The ambulance's interior and exterior styling was created by designer Yasumichi Morita of Tokyo firm GLAMOROUS, inspired by emergency vehicles worldwide; its exterior features purple roof-mounted lightbars and the text "Humanoid Ambulance."

GMO said the service was created after damaged humanoids had to be sent away for repair, causing service disruptions. GMO AIR CEO Tomohiro Uchida said the experience led to the idea of providing replacement humanoids. GMO's parent business is internet infrastructure such as domains and hosting; its robotics unit does not build robots but resells hardware from Unitree and other manufacturers and sells services around them. Japan's government published an AI Robotics Strategy in April 2026 targeting more than 30 percent of the global robot market and a domestic industry of roughly $135 billion by 2040.