SoftBank snaps up ABB's robotics biz for $5.4B to fuel 'physical AI' dreams
- Reference: 1760013390
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2025/10/09/softbank_snaps_up_abbs_robotics/
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Alibaba unveils $53B global AI plan – but it will need GPUs to back it up [1]READ MORE
The Japanese tech goliath is pushing ahead in its pursuit of "artificial super intelligence" after agreeing to buy ABB's robotics business for a cool $5.4 billion. The companies [2]announced the deal, which remains subject to regulatory approval, late on Wednesday, 8 October.
Under the agreement, ABB will carve out its robotics division into a new holding company before transferring ownership to SoftBank. The sale marks a walkback from ABB's earlier plan to spin off the unit as an independently listed firm, a move [3]it had been preparing since April .
"SoftBank's next frontier is physical AI. Together with ABB Robotics, we will unite world-class technology and talent under our shared vision to fuse Artificial Super Intelligence and robotics – driving a groundbreaking evolution that will propel humanity forward," gushed SoftBank Group CEO, Masayoshi Son.
ABB chair Peter Voser struck a more measured [4]note , saying the offer "was carefully evaluated by the Board and Executive Committee and compared with our original intention for a spin-off," and that the divestment "reflects the long-term strengths of the division" while delivering "immediate value to ABB shareholders."
[5]
ABB Robotics – which employs around 7,000 people and turned over $2.3 billion last year, about 7 percent of ABB Group revenues – has long been one of ABB's most visible technology businesses, supplying arm-like industrial bots for assembly, painting and packaging. But it had little overlap with the Swiss firm's other divisions, which predominantly focus on electrical infrastructure and automated process systems.
[6]Automation outfit ABB sees supply chain woes easing
[7]There's gold in your biz's processes and mining them is the future, says bloke behind topic's first practical guide
[8]Industrial systems scrambling to catch up with Meltdown, Spectre
[9]Robotics evangelist: 'Personal robots' should be invisible beings
ABB chief executive Morten Wierod had pitched the spin-off earlier this year as a way to "support value creation in both the ABB Group and in the separately listed pure-play robotics business." SoftBank's offer appears to have accelerated that thinking.
For Son, the acquisition slots neatly into his grand plan to dominate what he calls " [10]physical AI " – the convergence of artificial intelligence software with machines that can interact with the real world. ABB's factory-floor know-how joins a growing stable of robotics plays that includes AutoStore, Agile Robots and Berkshire Grey.
[11]
SoftBank shares jumped as much as 13 percent following the announcement, while ABB's stock edged higher in Zurich. The deal, if approved, will hand Son another hardware-heavy puzzle piece in his decades-long quest to turn SoftBank into the beating heart of the machine-age empire. ®
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[1] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/27/alibaba_ai_drive/
[2] https://group.softbank/en/news/press/20251008
[3] https://new.abb.com/news/detail/125281/abb-plans-to-spin-off-its-robotics-division-as-a-separately-listed-company
[4] https://new.abb.com/news/detail/129685/abb-to-divest-robotics-division-to-softbank-group
[5] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2aOfcF3KSyOPwH7CFouS9JwAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[6] https://www.theregister.com/2022/07/21/supply_chain_problems_easing/
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2020/03/10/processes_mining_guide/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2018/01/18/ics_cert_meltdown_responses/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2014/05/22/robots_are_the_new_black/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2025/09/27/alibaba_ai_drive/
[11] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_software/aiml&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44aOfcF3KSyOPwH7CFouS9JwAAAVg&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[12] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Industrial automation for AI… so instead of the robot doing a programmed series of movements, it just makes it up as it goes along? Good luck with the QC on that one.
person1> Honey, or shall I say my sweet thick moisture, I am home!
person2> Oh my deity! Why your head, sorry thinking and refuelling attachment, is bandaged?
person1> Robot punched me.
person2> Such a bad boy that robot is, punching my beloved person1!
person1> That's okay, my cultivated winter squash, it misunderstood my prompt.
soon softbank will rebrand
so they are going to change their name to Cyberdyne systems shortly? I think if there was one company that we can blame for the upcoming Mankind Machine war it'll be Softbank unless the AI bubble bursting wipes them out (we can but hope)
Definitely not Berkshire Hathaway
If I were a Softbank investor I'd be worried and confused by all this. This purchase itself might not be that bad, though it's over 10:1 P/E*.But why is Softbank itself buying it? And not "the Vision Fund" where most of the other AI "investments" are? Warren Buffett has famously avoided going after "synergies", preferring undervalued sectors and market concentration.
* And I think it's reasonable to assume that we're near the top of the market given that the cost of capital continues to increase.
Decline
Europe loses control of its last major robotics manufacturer.
Just this ------>