Let Us Compare Chinese Robotics with Softbank's First
Chinese robotics focuses heavily on practical, large-scale automation (cleaning, delivery, manufacturing) leveraging massive talent & supply chains, with giants like Tencent/Meituan investing, while SoftBank, through its Vision Fund & direct deals, plays a financier/strategic role, investing globally in diverse players like Agile Robots, Gaussian Robotics, & Keenon, but also faces challenges with past ventures like Pepper, showing a blend of ambition for AI singularity & pragmatic shifts amidst market realities, unlike China's focus on immediate industrial & service deployment.
Chinese Robotics Landscape
Focus: Mass production, industrial automation, service robots (delivery, cleaning), driven by rising labor costs in China.
Key Players: Large tech firms (Tencent, Meituan) invest heavily; companies like Keenon, Gaussian Robotics, Youibot develop & deploy practical solutions.
Strengths: Huge engineering talent pool, vast manufacturing base, strong domestic market demand.
Examples: Autonomous cleaning robots (Gaussian), delivery robots (Keenon), factory automation (Youibot).
SoftBank's Robotics Role
Focus: Visionary investments in AI & robotics (Son's "Singularity" vision), but also pragmatic bets on proven sectors like automation.
Strategy: Invests globally, often leading rounds in promising firms, but also directly acquires assets (like ABB's division).
Challenges: Mixed results, significant losses in some bets (WeWork, Didi), leading to more cautious, sector-focused plays.
Examples: Invested in Chinese firms (Gaussian, Agile Robots, Keenon) but also acquired ABB Robotics, aiming for integration.
Key Differences & Overlaps
China: Bottom-up, building practical applications for immediate market needs (manufacturing, logistics, services).
SoftBank: Top-down, big-picture vision (AI/Robotics merger) funding diverse players, but shifting towards mature industrial tech (ABB) after past vision fund issues.
Overlap: Both see opportunities in China's automation market; SoftBank invests in Chinese companies (Keenon, Gaussian) to leverage their market strengths.
“With the acquisition of ABB's robotics division, Softbank has made another bold statement. Recently, the Japanese company had primarily attracted attention through investments in artificial intelligence, most notably a roughly $30 billion investment in the rising star and industry leader OpenAI.
Now, CEO Masayoshi Son is paying approximately $5.4 billion for the business of the Swiss industrial icon – more than ABB likely could have achieved with an IPO of its robotics division.
But the premium could quickly pay off for Softbank. With ABB, Son is not only acquiring a proven automation specialist that is among the world's leading providers. It seems the Japanese company is also launching an attack on the global top spot, which has long been held by its compatriot, Fanuc. But the next major step in the development of robotics is already underway.
"Physical AI" is the buzzword – the combination of artificial intelligence and modern hardware. Son now holds the necessary building blocks: With OpenAI and the AI chip designer Arm, he has already found powerful partners, and the necessary computing power is currently being developed at a breathtaking pace. If Softbank succeeds in integrating the former ABB division, a true champion in industrial robotics could emerge.
The fact that these ambitious plans are not a sure thing is demonstrated not only by Softbank's stock, which closed slightly lower on Wednesday after experiencing a true surge in recent months. The company still needs to prove that the use of artificial intelligence will not only optimize production but elevate it to a completely new level. Since Wednesday, Softbank has certainly joined the race to become a new robotics giant.” [1]
1. Robotik-Riese. Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung; Frankfurt. 09 Oct 2025: 22. Von Sven Astheimer
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