Softbank

We got the scoop on the new AMR solutions from Fetch Robotics and recap the week that was in robotics.

Is Pepper about to get a new lease on life? Softbank is reportedly in discussions to sell Softbank Robotics Europe to German distributor United Robotics Group. Earlier this month, United became the master distributor for Pepper throughout Europe.

Reuters cites unnamed sources who said 27,000 Pepper robots were manufactured since it was introduced in 2014.

Despite their worldwide fame, the Nao and Pepper robots never achieved financial success.

AutoStore, a leading global robotics and software company, today announced that SoftBank has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 40% of AutoStore from funds affiliated with Thomas H. Lee Partners, L.P. (“THL”) and EQT Private Equity (“EQT”), among other shareholders. THL will continue to be AutoStore’s majority shareholder and THL, SoftBank and EQT will…

Softbank Group continues to shake up its approach to robotics. It announced today that its robotics division, Softbank Robotics, will jointly develop commercial robots with Japanese electronics maker Iris Ohyama. The joint venture will be called Iris Robotics, and it forecast sales of $965 million by 2025. Iris Ohyama will own a 51% stake in…

A SPAC offers startups quicker access to capital and greater liquidity, which can help drive innovation in advance of greater adoption.

It’s official. Hyundai Motor Corp announced this morning it is acquiring a controlling stake in Boston Dynamics for about $880 million. Hyundai Motor will own 80% of Boston Dynamics, while a Softbank affiliate will retain the other 20%. The final numbers are a bit different than our initial reporting, but the deal values Boston Dynamics…

Update at 1 PM EST on Dec. 11, 2020: Hyundai Motor Group announced this morning it is acquiring 80% of Boston Dynamics for $880 million. Read Story. Hyundai Motor will acquire Boston Dynamics. The acquisition will be finalized at Hyundai’s December 10 board meeting. News about the deal was first reported by The Korea Economic Daily,…

We have often said – whether on The Robot Report Podcast or in various articles – 2020 has been the year of Boston Dynamics. Well, apparently others have noticed, too. According to Bloomberg, Hyundai Motor is in talks to acquire Boston Dynamics from SoftBank Group. The Bloomberg report, which cites multiple unnamed sources, said the…

AI provider NVIDIA said it plans to acquire chipmaker Arm from SoftBank for about $40 billion and expand research and development facilities in the U.K. for a new supercomputer.

Whiz, an autonomous cleaning robot that use BrainOS for navigation, is now available in North America.

  According to Australian Centre for Robotic Vision Research’s Nicole Robinson, research studies on the impact of social robot interventions there have been few and unsophisticated. There is good news… the results are encouraging. As our world struggles with mental health and substance use disorders affecting 970 million people and counting (according to 2017 figures),…

Investments in robots, autonomous vehicles, and related systems totaled at least $1.3 billion in March 2019, down from $4.3 billion in February. On the other hand, automation companies reported $7.8 billion in mergers and acquisitions last month. While that may represent a slowdown, note that many businesses did not specify the amounts involved in their…

Late October spelled bad news for Pepper, the quintessential and iconic face of Softbank Robotics. According to a Nikkei Tech survey, only 15% of companies planned to renew their three-year contract with the robot provider that began in October 2015. The contract involved deploying Pepper in corporate settings, including banks and offices, for purposes of…

Children with autism spectrum conditions often have trouble recognizing the emotional states of people around them – distinguishing a happy face from a fearful face, for instance. To remedy this, some therapists use kid-friendly robots for autism therapy to demonstrate those emotions and to engage the children in imitating the emotions and responding to them…

The Softbank Vision Fund is investing $2.25 billion in GM Cruise Holdings LLC, which is primarily made up of Cruise Automation, the driverless car developer GM acquired in 2016 for nearly $1 billion. When the deal closes, Softbank Vision Fund, an affiliate of Japan’s SoftBank Group Corp., will own a 19.6 percent stake in GM…

Simbe Robotics, the creator of the Tally shelf-scanning robot, has partnered with Softbank Robotics America to expand deployments of Tally. Softbank will initially help expand Tally in Europe, Japan and North America. If all goes well, it will then help Simbe Robotics commercialize Tally more broadly. Retailers are starting to embrace in-store technology to try to…

Haier, a China-based consumer electronics and home appliances company, has partnered with SoftBank Robotics Group Corp to build a custom version of the Pepper robot for Haier’s Smart Home platform and its retail stores in China. This version of the Pepper robot will be built on Haier’s U+OS operating system. At Haier’s retail stores, Pepper…