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SoftBank acquires ABB robotics division

SoftBank announced 5.4 billion USD acquisition of ABB robotics division explicitly framing physical AI as its next frontier. Major consolidation in industrial robotics.

technology · Announced · just announced


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a1330ddb-6a65-4aa1-a8a4-a72653a640dc
Type
technology
Status
Announcedjust announced
Announced
2026-01-01
8 months ago
Active for
8 months

Who’s involved

SoftBank Group is a Japanese multinational conglomerate and investment holding company headquartered in Tokyo, founded in 1981 by [Masayoshi Son](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masayoshi_Son). Through its SoftBank Vision Funds and direct holdings, it is one of the world's largest technology investors, with major stakes in [OpenAI](https://openai.com), Arm Holdings, and historically [Boston Dynamics](/companies/boston-dynamics). The group operates SoftBank Robotics, which developed the Pepper humanoid social robot, and has committed over 30B USD to AI infrastructure and OpenAI investments

HQTokyo, Japangroup.softbank6 partnerships

Most-frequent partners

ABB Roboticstechnology provider

ABB Robotics, Swiss-Swedish industrial robot manufacturer (ABB Group) producing 6-axis robots, cobots (GoFa, SWIFTI), and painting robots. [World](/companies/world-labs)'s #2 industrial robot maker.

HQZurich, Switzerlandnew.abb.com/products/robotics3 partnerships

Most-frequent partners

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Sources (1)

  1. https://kraneshares.com/humanoid-robotics-in-2026-the-race-from-pilot-to-platform/

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