During the organisation’s company presentation in 2016, CEO Kaz Hirai revealed that a special robot department has been set up: ""Sony will try to develop new business models that integrate hardware and services in order to offer customers emotionally convincing experiences"", said Hirai. It is still unclear exactly what is meant by “emotionally convincing experiences”. Indirectly, the plans are slightly reminiscent of the claims of Japanese telecom company SoftBank. Softbank introduced the Pepper robot to the market, with the aim of making people happy. With the AIBO dog, Sony has touched a nerve. The emotional connection between the animal and the user is sometimes so great that they hold a funeral service when the battery dies.