This $400 mental health pet companion is powered by AI

Moflins are fuzzy mental health companions, powered by AI.
Credit: Vanguard Indsutries / Casio

For the 90s and 2000s kids who had an unhealthy attachment to FurReal Friends or Tomagotchis, this extremely cute pet robot wants to be the answer to your adult stress — If you have a couple hundred dollars lying around.

The latest of AI pet companions, Moflin is a fuzzy and featureless robot pet advertised not as a toy, but as a mental health companion. The ball of fluff — a lot like a limbless guinea pig or show-stealing Ghibli creature — wriggles around and makes noises just like common life-like pet toys already in stores. But its AI brain is designed to shift its mood depending on the situation, and even recognize and form attachments to its human “caregivers.”

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It will also run its prospective adopters￥59,400, or $398. Plus an optional $44 annual repair service called Club Moflin.

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The AI-powered plushie first debuted at CES in 2021, billed by its developer Vanguard Industries as a pet robot with emotional capabilities, able to intuitively learn from its handlers to offer companionship. Now in partnership with the tech manufacturing giant Casio, the fuzzy pet has finally gone to market.

Moflin owners have to access an app to see their pet’s emotional state, which reflects and responds to the human’s own mood and care. Each robot also has its own distinct personality, according to the company, but all of them enjoy “snuggling.” They even recharge in their own little bed. A quick YouTube search for Moflin shows owners dressing them up in tiny clothes, driving them around in baskets, and tucking them in under fuzzy blankets.

Moflin is currently up as a preorder and will be available for purchase on Nov. 7 for customers in Japan. Casio has yet to announce a wider release.