Israeli robotics start-up SixAI has partnered with Japanese Honda affiliate Musashi Seimitsu to launch what it claims to be the world’s “first employment agency” for autonomous robots, reports The Jerusalem Post. The joint venture of the companies, MusashiAI, will enable businesses to hire fully-autonomous artificial intelligence robots designed by SixAI to work alongside humans in industrial workplaces, according to their needs. SixAI’s industrial forklift and visual inspection robots, which are designed to execute rigorous and repetitive tasks previously carried out by humans, have been tested by automotive parts maker Musashi Seimitsu, which operates 33 manufacturing plants worldwide. Rather than purchasing robots, MusashiAI’s “employment agency” model, which has already begun operations, enables companies to hire robots by the hour or according to tasks completed. SixAI founder and chairman Ran Poliakine commented, “Our robot employment agency is a game-changer. It will provide capacity in markets that struggle with labour availability, either through the difficulty of the work itself or the cost pressures they face. By offering hourly or task-related salary rates, our autonomous robotic AI employees are easy to plan for and integrate in any factory work flow.”