U.S. Military Enlists Ten of Dexai's Alfred Robots

Defense Logistics Agency contract is worth $1.6 million.

Before the news, a quick note of housekeeping: I need to apologize to Dexai. I totally missed a phone call with one of their execs last week and I still feel bad about that. Sorry, Dexai.

The News

• Dexai Robotics announced today that it has signed a $1.6 million contract with the Defense Logistics Agency that will have ten of Dexai’s Alfred food robots working at U.S. military installations.

• One of Dexai’s robots is already working at the Monarch Dining Facility of Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California (the first food robot to be installed on a military base!), where it prepares grab-and-go salads.

• Dexai’s differentiator is that its robotic arm uses the same tools and utensils that a human cook uses, so the resulting food should feel more “handmade.”

The Story

Listen. It’s a little weird to write about food robots in the military, given the current state of global affairs. There are obviously much bigger military-related issues going on right now. Having said that, we cover the news of food robotics, and the U.S. military could wind up being a big purchaser of food automation, so here we are.

Back at the beginning of the year, we covered the news that Travis Air Force Base had installed Dexai’s Alfred to make pre-packaged grab-n’-go salads for soldiers. Thanks to today’s announcement we now know this initial test run with the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) includes ten Alfred installations, for which, Dexai is getting paid $1.6 million.

Why is the military interested in Alfreds? Good question! We actually asked Dexai’s CEO David Johnson that last month. Here’s what he said.