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Last week SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed that artificial intelligence was mankind's biggest threat.

So he might not be too happy to hear that a company claims to have given a robot emotions for the first time via a microchip breakthrough.

They say their artificially intelligent machine can recognise, emulate and empathise with the eight key emotions in humans.

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London-based Emoshape has created a cube-shaped device with emotions. Called Emospark it can recognise and emulate the eight primary emotions using facial recognition (shown right in image). These are anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust and joy

Emoshape, based in London and New York, say they have achieved a major technological breakthrough with their EPU (emotional processing unit).

This is the cornerstone of their new Emospark product, a small £195 ($315) cube that can recognise and respond to your emotions - and it even has emotions of its own.

Using the microchip and a camera, either through your phone or a separate external camera, the cube monitors your facial expressions and works out what you like and don't like. 

For example, when playing particular music it will see if you enjoy it or not. This will help it learn what you might enjoy in future.

By syncing up to your phone the cube can then play songs, videos and more back to you if you make a request of it.

But being mean or nice to the cube will also elicit a response from it. 

It is apparently able to emulate the eight so-called primary emotions. These are anger, fear, sadness, disgust, surprise, anticipation, trust and joy.

In a video the robot is seen responding to particular words and phrases, including insults and compliments.

'I hate you,' the robot is told at one point.

'I'm just trying to help you,' it responds.

The company claims this is the first time that machines have been empowered with the ability to respond to human emotions.

Microchip breakthrough enables computers to feel emotions

Emospark (shown) can replicate emotions and can feel happy or sad. It can also recognise when a human is happy or sad via a camera. This can be either your phone or an external camera bought separately. The cube can play you music or video based on your requests

In a video the robot is seen responding to particular words and phrases, including insults and compliments.'I hate you,' the robot is told at one point.'I'm just trying to help you,' it responds. IT's central eye looks eerily similar to Hal 9000 from the 1968 movie 2001: A Space Odyssey 

Speaking to MailOnline, Olivier Zimmerman from Emoshape says they built the device in order to make machines more like us. 

'If we create a robot in the future, we want them to be more like us,' he said.

'We want machines to be more like humans, not humans to be more like machines.'

He was not willing to say how the technology works exactly, as he says it is still patent pending.

But while the machine can only monitor facial expressions for now, Mr Zimmerman says the company plans to also monitor emotions in a human's voice as well eventually.

Emospark runs on Android or iOS and connects to other devices via Wi-Fi or Bluetooth. 

The company plans to launch Emospark by Christmas this year.

'How can any inanimate object interact with humans and learn how to please them without empathy?' said Patrick Levy Rosenthal, CEO of Emoshape.

'The EPU advancement represents a step change for the future of technological goods such as smartphones, computers, toys, medicine, finance and robotics.'

Speaking to MailOnline, Olivier Zimmerman from Emoshape says they built the device in order to make machines more like us. 'If we create a robot in the future, we want them to be more like us,' he said. Pictured are C3PO and R2D2 from the Star Wars movies