Yaskawa Electric Corporation (Representative Director, President: Masahiro Ogawa, “Yaskawa”) and SoftBank Corp. (President & CEO: Junichi Miyakawa, “SoftBank”) have agreed to collaborate on the social implementation of “Physical AI”, leveraging Yaskawa’s AI robotics and SoftBank’s AI-RAN initiative and have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to formalize the collaboration.

Through this collaboration, the two companies aim to realize a future in which robots can perform their abilities in more diverse environments and work together safely and flexibly in the same space as humans by fusing AI and communication technology with robotics and expanding the work areas in which robots can operate.

As a first step, Yaskawa and SoftBank will jointly develop use cases for Physical AI robots that excel in office environments and unveil them at Yaskawa’s booth during the 2025 International Robot Exhibition (iREX 2025), which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from December 3rd to 6th, 2025.

Background of the Collaboration

As Japan faces challenges such as labor shortages resulting from a declining birthrate and an aging population, as well as increasing complexity in business operations, the need for automation and labor-saving solutions is growing across many industries. The use of AI and robotics is becoming increasingly important to meet these needs.

However, there are many areas where automation has not yet progressed, such as automation for social environments where there are many unspecified people, and where various tasks need to be implemented in unspecified orders. For example, this refers to environments such as office buildings, hospitals, schools, and department stores, where robots coexist in the same space as humans, requiring responses to changing situations, adjustments to work procedures, and interruptions—conditions that demand increasingly complex decision-making. There are many social environments around us that require real-time complex decision-making and flexible responses to unpredictable situations, and the demand for a wide range of automation is expected to increase in the future.

Aiming to solve these social issues with technologies originating in Japan, Yaskawa and SoftBank will integrate Yaskawa’s AI robotics and SoftBank’s AI-RAN to realize Physical AI, and work to build AI foundations and new solutions. Through this initiative, the two companies aim to expand the range of tasks that robots can perform with more sophisticated decision making.

Yaskawa has earned a strong reputation and long-standing trust in the fields of motion control and industrial robotics. Leveraging its strengths in precision control technologies centered on motors and its commitment to high safety standards, Yaskawa is integrating AI technologies to expand the range of tasks that robots can perform by using its autonomous robot called “MOTOMAN NEXT,” which is capable of advanced decision-making.

SoftBank has been advancing the development of AI-RAN, a technology that integrates AI with RAN (Radio Access Network) to create new value in communication infrastructure, as well as real-time processing technologies utilizing MEC (Multi-access Edge Computing) platforms. These technologies enable the low-latency analysis of large volumes of environmental information captured by cameras and sensors, allowing AI to provide robots with optimal instructions from an “external perspective.”

In this collaboration, the high operational performance and precise control realized through Yaskawa’s AI robotics will be combined with SoftBank’s AI-RAN. By integrating and analyzing information from robot sensors, cameras, and external systems, the two companies will establish a system that can issue optimal instructions in real time. By combining the advanced technologies each company has cultivated in its respective field, Yaskawa and SoftBank aim to create and socially implement new automation solutions in the field of Physical AI.

Yaskawa and SoftBank will demonstrate this use case at Yaskawa’s main booth during the 2025 International Robot Exhibition (iREX 2025), which will be held at Tokyo Big Sight from December 3rd to 6th, 2025.

For SoftBank’s press release related to this matter, please refer to the page at the following URL.

https://www.softbank.jp/en/corp/news/press/sbkk/2025/20251201_02/

For inquires, contact:

Corporate Communications Dept.

YASKAWA Electric Corporation

E-mail: pr@yaskawa.co.jp