The two companies will design spot work, single-shift jobs booked on demand, for collecting real-world data for physical AI, a field already growing quickly in the United States and China.

ZEALS, the developer of D1, a compact humanoid robot built in Japan, has partnered with Timee, Inc., which operates Timee, a platform for spot work. Together, they aim to create a new category of work for the physical AI era: data-collection spot work.

Data-collection spot work is short-term work that gathers and organizes the real-world data required for physical AI to learn and improve. The scope and intended use of the data collected are stated explicitly, and the work is designed around safety, quality, and privacy protection.

ZEALS is deploying humanoids such as D1 in real workplaces. Timee has spent years matching workers to on-site jobs. Together they will explore new forms of work that support physical AI as it moves into the field.

Background

Generative AI has spread quickly through digital work: text, images, and audio.

Physical AI is different. Robots and humanoids that act among people, objects, and physical spaces need more than internet data. They need records of physical work: how people hold things, in what order they do a task, how they judge a situation, and what they do when something unexpected happens.

That kind of context does not exist on the web. It has to be collected on site, organized, and then used to train and improve models.

In the United States and China, companies are already emerging around this work: collecting real-world data, remote operation, human demonstration, annotation, and quality control for physical AI and robotics foundation models. As physical AI reaches Japanese workplaces, systems that support this kind of ongoing work are expected to become increasingly important in Japan.

On August 5, 2026, ZEALS launched D1, a compact humanoid built in Japan. The company plans to produce 100 units in fiscal 2026 and reach 10,000 cumulative hours on site. Deployment will begin in healthcare and elder care, followed by manufacturing, logistics, and hotels.

For D1 and other humanoids to keep working after they are installed, each site's tasks, the way people move and decide, and how exceptions are handled have to be captured as data and fed back into learning, evaluation, and improvement.

The two companies formed the partnership to turn that process into paid work that uses people's judgment and field experience, so physical AI can advance and new jobs can appear at the same time.

Roles

ZEALS will start from the field: what physical AI needs to learn, and what data that requires. It will set the requirements for collection and sort out the extra work that appears when a robot is installed.

Timee will use its experience turning on-site work into jobs people can take. It will focus on recruiting, matching, shift design, and on-site operations.

Scope of the Partnership

1. Designing data-collection spot work for physical AI

The companies will design work that collects and organizes procedures, motion, the environment, human judgment and assistance, and exception handling, so humanoid robots can learn and improve.

Examples may include reception and wayfinding in a building, handing over items, and staff demonstrating how a task is performed, all collected as spot work.

2. Operations that protect workers and ensure data quality

Training data for physical AI must meet a consistent standard to be usable.

The two companies will split roles clearly and design how the work runs, including procedures, training, safety, quality checks, and how results are shared, so spot workers can take part with confidence. What is collected, and why, will be stated in advance. Privacy measures such as anonymization and masking will be used where they are needed.

3. Spot workers around robot installation and day-to-day operation

Beyond data collection, the companies will explore using spot workers when humanoids such as D1 are installed at a company or facility: helping with delivery and setup, support in the first days of operation, helping users, checking how the robot is running, and reporting from the site.

A humanoid's value in the field is not only the hardware. It also depends on running the robot after it arrives and improving it over time. The partnership will treat the new tasks that come with that as jobs the physical AI era can create.

Outlook

ZEALS does not see AI and robots only as replacements for existing jobs. As they improve, they can also create new work.

As physical AI enters real sites, tasks that did not exist before are likely to appear: collecting data, setup, operations support, quality checks, and feeding results back into the next version.

People's judgment and field experience can help physical AI get better, and that help can be paid work. With Timee, ZEALS aims to build that into a new job category for a period in which people and machines work side by side.

The work will not stop at data collection. It will extend to the other jobs that show up around physical AI, including bringing robots in, setting them up, and keeping them running.

About D1

D1 is a compact humanoid built in Japan, made to share indoor space with people and to take on specific tasks.

ZEALS sources parts and technology worldwide, and leads in Japan on AI, software, control, assembly, and how the robot is introduced and run on site.

D1 is compact enough for Japanese interiors. It is built for conversation, guidance, movement, multiple languages, and two-armed task support.

It was launched on August 5, 2026. Inquiries and sales opened at a starting price of JPY 5 million per unit. ZEALS plans 100 units in fiscal 2026 and 10,000 cumulative hours on site, in healthcare and elder care, manufacturing and logistics, hotels, and other places short of staff.

D1 site: https://omakaserobotics.ai/en

About Timee

Company name: Timee, Inc.
Founded: August 2017
Capital: JPY 3.88 billion (as of October 2025, including capital reserve)
Address: 35F Shiodome City Center, 1-5-2 Higashi-Shimbashi, Minato-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Ryo Ogawa, Representative Director
Business: Planning, development, and operation of applications
Website: https://corp.timee.co.jp/

About ZEALS

Company name: ZEALS Co., Ltd.
Founded: April 1, 2014
Capital: JPY 100 million
Address: 6F Arco Tower, 1-8-1 Shimomeguro, Meguro-ku, Tokyo
Representative: Masa, Founder and CEO
Business: Omakase AI, D1, Omakase Zen, Omakase OS, ZEALS AI Agent, and related products
Website: https://zeals.ai/en/
D1 site: https://omakaserobotics.ai/en