SoftBank Group (OTC:SFTBY) (OTC:SFTBF) said on Wednesday it will buy the robotics division of Swiss engineering firm ABB (OTC:ABBNY) in a $5.4 billion deal, as the Japanese firm looks to boost its artificial intelligence portfolio.
ABB Robotics Poised To Boost SoftBank's AI Vision
“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,” CEO Masayoshi Son said.
The deal means ABB will no longer pursue plans to spin off its robotics division into a separate publicly listed company.
The transaction is expected to close in mid-to-late 2026 and generate cash proceeds of roughly $5.3 billion from the divestment, ABB said in a statement.
The expected separation costs related to the deal are around $200 million, about half of which has already been baked into the 2025 outlook, the company added.
SoftBank Doubles Down On AI And Robotics
Son has sought to beef up the group’s AI plays through investments and acquisitions in different areas of technology. SoftBank owns chip designer Arm (NASDAQ:ARM) and has a major stake in ChatGPT owner OpenAI.
In September, SoftBank, along with OpenAI and Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL), announced a $500 billion Stargate project to power the next wave of AI.
The company also announced a partnership with Intel Corp (NASDAQ:INTC) in June to launch a $70 million AI memory project in Japan to address energy challenges in the data center market.
The group is not new to robotics either. In 2012, SoftBank acquired a majority stake in French company Aldebaran and launched the humanoid robot Pepper in 2014—a venture that failed, though robotics has since become a major focus for the company. It also has investments in robotics-related firms like AutoStore Holdings and Agile Robots.
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