100% Autonomous with AI
In Brazil, it is now possible to enter a supermarket, place items in your cart, and head to the exit without ever having to pass your goods through a checkout counter. This experience is currently available in Curitiba, in the state of Paraná, where the Muffato Group has launched a new generation of autonomous supermarkets equipped with hundreds of cameras and sensors controlled by artificial intelligence.
The store, known as "MGO," is billed by the company as the largest fully autonomous supermarket in Latin America. But how does the system know exactly what each customer is purchasing? The answer lies in a combination of 587 4K-resolution cameras, 817 sensor-equipped shelves, and computer vision algorithms. When a customer removes a product from a shelf, the artificial intelligence detects the movement and adds the item to a virtual cart. If the customer decides against the purchase and returns the item, the system automatically updates the list; the technology also handles products sold by weight.
In the produce and bakery sections, smart scales identify the items and link them to the customer's purchase, eliminating the need for labels or barcodes. Once finished, customers can pay via a mobile app or at an exit terminal—which supports various payment methods, such as Pix or credit/debit cards. In short, while you don’t need to manually scan each individual product, payment remains mandatory—naturally.
Developed in partnership with the Portuguese company Sensei, the technology also helps monitor inventory and identify goods that need to be restocked. The project represents an evolution of the first MOFATO Go, which opened in Curitiba in 2022; however, it also raises questions regarding privacy, implementation costs, and the future of retail jobs. After all, if artificial intelligence is already capable of tracking an entire shopping trip without the need for checkout staff, how far might this automation extend across society in the coming years?
