The Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank Group buys a robotics company while the financial giant says that physical AI is its next border.
SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it has acquired the ABB group’s robotics trade unit, based in Zurich, Switzerland, for $ 5.375 billion. The operation is subject to the approval of the regulatory authorities; Softbank provides that the agreement will be concluded between the middle and the end of 2026, according to a press release. Sami Atiya, the head of the division, will leave the company once the acquisition is finalized, according to the ABB group.
ABB’s robotic activity employs around 7,000 people and sells a variety of robots and equipment designed for tasks such as order preparation, cleaning and painting. The company achieved turnover of $ 2.3 billion in 2024, or 7 % of ABB’s overall turnover. ABB announced its intention to split its robotics group in April.
SoftBank said that she hoped to be able to “restart” the sales of the abb robotic spin-off. The organization’s turnover in 2024 was only $ 2.3 billion, compared to $ 2.5 billion the previous year.
SoftBank has strengthened its investments and participations in robotics in recent years. The entity has invested in companies with more historic players like Autostore and startups like Skild AI and Agile Robots.
The company also launched its own robotic platform, SoftBank Robotics Group, in 2014.
“Softbank’s next border is physical AI,” said Masayoshi Son, President and CEO of SoftBank in the company’s press release. “In collaboration with Abb Robotics, we will unite world -class technology and talents under our common vision to merge artificial super intelligence and robotics, thus leading to a revolutionary evolution that will propel humanity forward.”
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Robotics is one of SoftBank’s four areas of intervention, with AI chips, AI data centers and energy.
“The center of the ‘information revolution’ has gone from personal, internet and high speed computers to smartphones, and has now entered a new phase led by artificial intelligence,” said SoftBank in its press release. “In this context, (SoftBank Group) declared its mission to achieve artificial super intelligence (ASI) for the progress of humanity.”
Techcrunch contacted SoftBank for more information.
