Michele StuevenSoFi stadium has sushi robots, Stellar Pizza has pizza robots, Toni Compatto serves up robotic cocktails and coffee, and don’t be surprised when Servi, the food service robot, takes your order next time you’re in Denny’s or IHOP. Now Chipotle is testing out Chippy, the first and only robot that uses artificial intelligence to make tortilla chips.
Chippy is currently being tested at the Chipotle Cultivate Center in Irvine and will be integrated into a Chipotle restaurant in Southern California later this year. The Mexican chain’s culinary team is working with Miso Robotics to replicate its exact recipe using corn masa flour, water and sunflower oil, seasoned with a dusting of salt, and finished with a hint of fresh lime juice.
“Everyone loves finding a chip with a little more salt or an extra hint of lime,” Nevielle Panthaky, Vice President of Culinary at Chipotle, said in a press release. “To ensure we didn’t lose the humanity behind our culinary experience, we trained Chippy extensively to ensure the output mirrored our current product, delivering some subtle variations in flavor that our guests expect.”
With more than 2,950 restaurants in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany as of December 31, 2021, Chippy will join the chain’s AI concierge chatbot, Pepper.
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