Casio

In 2025, Casio launched Moflin, a $429 robotic companion animal powered by what the company calls Emotional AI. The device learns from its interactions with its owner over time to develop a unique personality, and is marketed as a mental wellness product. All of Moflin's data processing happens on the device itself — nothing is sent to the cloud or stored by Casio.

Moflin launched in Japan in November 2024 (¥59,400) and in the United States in October 2025 ($429). It uses built-in sensors — including accelerometers, gyroscopes, touch sensors, and microphones — combined with machine learning running on-device to generate what Casio claims can be more than 4 million distinct personality combinations. Voice input is converted into non-identifiable feature data and stored locally, with no personally identifiable information collected. Casio describes Moflin in its Medium-Term Management Plan as a "mental wellness" product, citing global growth in anxiety and mental health challenges as the market context. The product was originally developed with involvement from a startup, and an earlier crowdfunding version exceeded its funding goal by more than 3,000%.

Casio's Yamagata factory in Japan — where premium G-Shock watches are made — uses extensive robotic automation and a sensor-based system to detect potential equipment failures before they happen. Since 2018, one production line has been almost entirely automated, cutting production costs by 50%, according to third-party reporting. The facility also uses automated image inspection to check for assembly defects without human involvement.

The Yamagata factory produces high-end G-Shock lines including MR-G and MT-G. Its basic model production line (for the A159W) has operated without human assembly since 2018, covering soldering, screw fastening, and image-based quality inspection. For equipment health monitoring, Casio uses omnidirectional microphones fitted to robotic arms to detect unusual sounds that may indicate mechanical problems before failures occur — a form of predictive maintenance. Third-party journalism from Hypebeast (August 2025) characterizes this as "strategically integrating AI" into manufacturing. However, Casio's own official communications use the terms "automation," "Smart Factory," and "digitization" — and do not describe these systems as AI or machine learning. This practice is therefore classified as Reported, because the AI characterization comes from third-party sources rather than Casio's own disclosures.

In April 2025, Casio created a dedicated department specifically focused on AI technology development, as part of a broader reorganization of its research and development operations. By July 2025, this unit was elevated to report directly to Casio's top management — a structural signal that AI development is now a core strategic priority for the company, which would affect all product lines including G-Shock.

The AI Technology Development Department was established within a newly created Research & Development Unit, separated from Casio's previous Business Innovation Center. As of July 2025, Casio eliminated its Development Headquarters entirely, and the Research & Development Unit — including the AI department — became an independent organization reporting directly to management. No public information has been released about the department's specific projects, headcount, or near-term deliverables. This structural change closely followed the establishment of Casio's AI ethics policy in August 2024 and the launch of the first AI co-designed G-Shock watch in 2023, suggesting a coordinated escalation of AI strategy across the company.