I wouldn’t go as far as to say it’s been dethroned, but Mirumi — the clingy fluffball with a staring problem — now has some serious competition for the title of cutest robot at CES 2025. I just met Ropet, a wide-eyed companion robot with warm, soft fur, little flapping arms and big feelings. And damn is that thing adorable.
Ropet’s sole mission is to love and be loved. Think of it like a living plushie; it has a personality, will listen to your deepest darkest secrets without judgement, and will reach out to hug you when you’re sad. Its appearance is customizable and it has optional ChatGPT integration, so it’s there if you want it for advanced conversations with the robot but you’re not forced into it. Its little button nose is a camera that it uses for face and object recognition; Ropet can identify and bond more closely with its owner, but it will remember other people too. All of this data is stored and processed locally, meaning it never leaves the device itself.
If you don’t trust that (fair), you can keep Ropet entirely disconnected from the internet, and it’ll still be capable of performing all of its functions minus ChatGPT. That includes reacting to audio, touch and gesture inputs. If you pet or cuddle it, its expression will change to visible happiness. Or, it might look grumpy if you shake it around. (What are you, evil? Don’t do that). Show it one of the few dozen objects it knows, like a hot dog or a banana, and you’ll see an emoji of that pop up in its eyes. You can give it the “shush” sign to quiet it down, and it’ll dance along if you’re listening to music.
We’re at the point of CES week where we’re all running on fumes, and Ropet brought unexpected childlike glee to this burnt-out gremlin for a few minutes. Emotional companion robots are a ubiquitous presence at CES, but the ones that actually have some degree of smarts are not usually so snuggleable. And the ones that are snuggleable usually aren’t very smart, tending to come across more like animatronics. Ropet looks kind of like a fluffy baby seal — but not realistic enough to dip into uncanny valley territory — and its body gives off heat to simulate the feeling of holding a living creature.
It’s hard not to draw comparisons to Furby, which is probably the best-known example of a robotic creature pet that responds to voice and touch commands. But Ropet takes the whole idea to another level. You can change the color of its eyes in the app, and buy different face plates and furs if you want to mix things up or just can’t decide on how you want its appearance. There are also little outfits you can purchase.
A Kickstarter campaign for Ropet managed to pull in $228,091, wildly surpassing its $1,285 goal, so I’m definitely not the only one who thinks this little guy seems pretty promising. There are two purchase options for anyone who is interested: Ropet Basic ($299), which comes with a case and a USB-C charging cord, and Ropet Pro ($329), which comes with those things plus a charging base that has light effects and lets Ropet rotate a little. The Kickstarter doesn’t end until January 21, so if you catch it before then you can get it for significantly cheaper. Early bird orders are expected to begin shipping in March, and the rest will be unleashed upon the world later this year.
Now, we sit back and see whether Ropet will follow in the footsteps of Furby to develop its own mildly sinister lore that endures for decades to come.
