Will robots leave baristas unemployed? A 23-million-tenge robot barista might replace human workers

A coffee shop in Astana has introduced a robot barista that fully handles the coffee-making process: it brews the drink, froths the cream, creates latte art, and even washes the equipment afterward. A Threads user shared videos of the robot in action.

A cup of coffee from this "employee" costs approximately 1,500 tenge. The video has sparked a heated debate on social media: while some admire the convenience and high-tech approach, others worry that machines will leave people jobless and destroy the atmosphere of human connection in coffee shops.

Notably, similar robots have been operating in Moscow since 2025 and have not yet pushed human baristas out of the market. On Alibaba, the price for such devices varies from 1.8 to 22.6 million tenge, depending on the model and features.