Japan bets on "open source" to revive its status as a major robotics nation

SelfStaking · 2026-04-07T10:25:48+00:00

The prospect of integrating dormant data with artificial intelligence (AI) on manufacturing sites is driving the robotics R&D race to heat up further. With SoftBank Group (SBG)’s acquisition of Swiss industrial giant ABB’s robotics business as an opportunity, Yaskawa Electric and Fanuc have announced cooperation one after another and measures such as opening up control-related software. In the field of “physical AI,” where machines are made capable of autonomous operation, Japan—already behind China and the U.S.—is now pinning its hopes on restoring its status as a “robotics superpower.”“Achieve a historic evolution through the integration of super AI (ASI) (which surpasses human intelligence) with robotics technology,” said Masayoshi Son, Chairman and CEO of SoftBank Group. In October 2025, SoftBank Group announced that it would acquire ABB Robotics, ABB’s robotics business subsidiary, for $5.375B. The company ranks alongside Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric, and KUKA (KUKA) under China’s Midea Group, placing it among the top in

SelfStaking

2026-04-07 10:25:48

The prospects for integrating data sleeping at manufacturing sites with artificial intelligence (AI) are driving competition in robot development ever hotter. With SoftBank Group (SBG)’s acquisition of the robotics business of Swiss industrial giant ABB as an opportunity, Yaskawa Electric and Fanuc have announced cooperation one after another, along with steps such as opening up control-related software. In the “physical AI” field, where machines can be made to run autonomously, Japanese companies have fallen behind the U.S. and China, and are now pinning their hopes on this to revive Japan’s position as a “robot superpower.”

“Through the integration of (superhuman) super AI (ASI) and robotics technology, we will achieve epoch-making evolution,” said Sun Zhengyi, chairman and president of SoftBank Group. In October 2025, SoftBank Group announced that it would acquire ABB Robotics, the robotic business subsidiary of ABB, for $5.38B. The company ranks among the world’s “top four” industrial robot makers alongside Fanuc, Yaskawa Electric, and Germany’s KUKA (KUKA), which is under China’s Midea Group.

“SoftBank shock”

BB’s cumulative shipments exceed 500k units, including industrial robots, automated material-handling robots, and collaborative robots that assist humans with their work. This “cross-industry” acquisition by SoftBank has stunned the industry. The reason is that SoftBank is expected to stand out among the “top four” in the physical AI space by integrating its own AI technology with robots.

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The Nikkei Business Publications and The Financial Times merged in November 2015 into the same media group. The alliance formed by two newspapers—both founded in the 19th century, in Japan and the UK—is moving forward with “high-quality, the strongest economic journalism” as its banner, promoting collaboration across a wide range of areas such as joint special features. This time, as part of that, article exchanges have been made between the Chinese websites of the two newspapers.

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