SoftBank Acquires ABB Robotics for $5.4B, Eyes AI Revolution

In a bold step to strengthen its artificial intelligence ambitions, SoftBank Group announced on Monday that it has agreed to acquire the robotics division of Swiss engineering giant ABB for $5.4 billion. The deal, which still awaits regulatory approvals worldwide, marks a significant shift in SoftBank’s strategy toward combining AI and robotics.

The acquisition means ABB will no longer pursue plans to spin off its robotics business as a separate publicly listed company. The move comes as SoftBank aims to pioneer what its founder Masayoshi Son calls “Physical AI,” blending cutting-edge robotics with advanced artificial intelligence technologies. Son envisions this as a leap toward Artificial Super Intelligence—AI that could surpass human intelligence by thousands of times.

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SoftBank is already a major player in AI and robotics, holding stakes in chip designer Arm and OpenAI, along with investments in robot-focused firms like AutoStore Holdings and Agile Robots. The company has a history in robotics, dating back to its majority stake in France’s Aldebaran and the launch of the humanoid robot Pepper in 2014. While Pepper didn’t achieve commercial success, robotics remains a central part of SoftBank’s technological ambitions.

ABB, under CEO Morten Wierod since August 2024, had been exploring a spin-off of its robotics unit as a strategic maneuver. The company said the sale will deliver “immediate value to ABB shareholders” and plans to use the proceeds according to its existing capital allocation principles. ABB expects around $5.3 billion in cash from the sale, with separation costs estimated at $200 million, half of which is already included in the company’s 2025 financial guidance.

This acquisition positions SoftBank at the forefront of a rapidly evolving tech landscape, merging robotics expertise with AI capabilities in a move that could redefine industrial automation and human-machine interaction globally.