AIBO (stylized as aibo, abbreviated as A rtificial I ntelligence Ro BO t, homonymous with aibō (相棒), "pal" or "partner" in Japanese) is a series of robotic dogs designed and manufactured by Sony. Sony announced a prototype Aibo in mid-1998, [1] and the first consumer model was introduced on 11 May 1999. [2] .