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Honda stops developing Asimo, its friendly humanoid robot, report says

Wave goodbye to Asimo.

Marrian Zhou Staff Reporter
Marrian Zhou is a Beijing-born Californian living in New York City. She joined CNET as a staff reporter upon graduation from Columbia Journalism School. When Marrian is not reporting, she is probably binge watching, playing saxophone or eating hot pot.
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Marrian Zhou
Honda's Asimo robot

Honda's Asimo robot may bid us goodbye.

 Timothy A. Clary/AFP/Getty Images

Perhaps it's time to part ways with Asimo.

has halted development of Asimo, its iconic humanoid robot, Nikkei reported on Thursday. The automobile giant is said to be shifting focus to developing more practical robots that can be used in areas such as nursing and transportation.

This may be a farewell to Asimo, but the technology behind it will reportedly be applied to future robots. Honda has already revealed a new generation of robotic devices, 3E Robotics Concept, which the company brought to CES this year. The robots are humanized and one of them can show "compassion to humans with a variety of facial expressions."

Asimo, which stands for Advanced Step in Innovative Mobility, made its debut in 2000, a decade and a half after Honda started working on that robotic tech. Asimo took its first public steps in 2005 and stepped onto US soil in 2007. The latest Asimo robot arrived in 2011 with improved motor skills and AI capabilities -- it could even make hand gestures.

Honda didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.