The Japanese investment conglomerate SoftBank Group buys a robotics company, because the financial giant says that physical AI is its next border.
SoftBank announced on Wednesday that it had acquired the ABB Group robotics trade unit based in Zurich, Switzerland, for $ 5.375 billion. The agreement is subject to regulatory approval; Softbank predicts that the agreement will end from the middle to the end of 2026 according to a press release. Sami Atiya, the head of the division, will leave the company once the acquisition is completed, according to the ABB group.
ABB robotics activity employs around 7,000 people and sells a variety of robots and equipment, designed for tasks such as picking, cleaning and painting. The company carried out $ 2.3 billion in revenues in 2024, which represents 7% of ABB’s overall income. ABB announced its intention to transform its robotics group in April.
Softbank said he hoped to be able to “revive” the spin-off sales of Abb robotics. The organization’s turnover in 2024 was only $ 2.3 billion, compared to $ 2.5 billion the previous year.
SoftBank has developed its investments and robotics assets in recent years. The entity has invested in companies, including actors inherited like Autostore and startups, including Skild AI and Agile Robots.
The company also launched its own robotics platform, SoftBank Robotics Group, in 2014.
“Softbank’s next border is physical AI,” said Masayoshi, president and chief executive officer of Softbank in the company’s press release. “With Abb Robotics, we will unite world -class technology and talents under our shared vision to merge artificial super intelligence and robotics – leading to a revolutionary evolution that will propel humanity forward.”
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Robotics is one of the four areas of interest for the sweet bank, as well as AI chips, AI data centers and energy.
“The center of the information revolution” has gone from personal, internet and broadband computers to smartphones, and has now entered a new phase led by artificial intelligence, “SoftBank said in its press release. “In this context, (SoftBank Group) declared its mission to carry out a super artificial intelligence (ASI) for the progress of humanity.”
Techcrunch contacted SoftBank for more information.
