A pregnancy robot from China recently made headlines and has now been revealed as a hoax.
The reports from major outlets, including Newsweek and The Economic Times featured images of the robot and mentioned a company named Kaiwa Technology behind the innovation.
A man named Zhang Qifeng was quoted as the CEO and founder of the company, but no online evidence of Kaiwa Technology was found.
Zhang was said to hold a PhD from Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University (NTU).
However, an NTU spokesperson has revealed that no person with the name of Zhang Qifeng graduated from the institute with a PhD degree.
The spokesperson further said, “Our check also showed no such gestation robot research has been conducted at NTU.”
So, Live Science magazine concluded that the so-called “pregnancy robot” is not real.
Previously Newsweek reported a conversation with the “CEO of Kaiwa Technology” who revealed that a prototype of the robot could be ready by 2026.
He said, “Some people don't want to get married but still want a 'wife'; some don't want to be pregnant but still want a child.”
Director of the Reproductive and Placental Research Unit at Yale University School of Medicine, Dr Harvey Kliman, strongly rejected the idea as unrealistic and ethically troubling.