China blocked Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group’s takeover of ABB’s robotics unit in the country, derailing the investment firm’s push into physical AI.
China blocked the proposed sale of ABB’s robotics unit in the country to Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank Group, derailing the investment firm’s push into physical AI.
An agency that reviews foreign investments for security in China rejected the $5.4 billion deal, ABB said in a statement, adding that SoftBank has informed the Swiss company of the regulator’s decision.
“The Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review in China has prohibited the acquisition of the ABB Robotics business in China,” ABB said. “ABB and SoftBank are in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction.”
ABB’s robotics business—employs 7,000 people spread across manufacturing hubs in China, the U.S, and Sweden—booked $313 million in EBITDA on $2.3 billion revenue in 2024, compared with $385 million and $2.5 billion in 2023, according to a statement in October 2025 when the deal with Softbank was announced.
Softbank agreed to buy ABB’s robotics unit as part of the Japanese firm’s bid to integrate AI apps with physical AI and boost earnings. The acquisition was expected to be completed by mid to late 2026.
Physical AI is “Softbank’s next frontier,” Son, chairman and CEO of Softbank, said in a statement in October 2025. “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.”
Son has been expanding rapidly into AI in recent years. He has committed to invest in the $500 billion Stargate AI infrastructure project in the U.S., in partnership with OpenAI, Oracle and MGX. Softbank is also a major investor in OpenAI with $65 billion in cumulative investment as of October.
Prior to the proposed ABB Robotics takeover, SoftBank set up Robo HD, a new holding company that owns its robotics assets comprising over a dozen portfolio companies from Agile Robots SE and Skild AI. In 2024, SoftBank Group announced a joint venture with Riyadh-based investment firm Alat, for manufacturing industrial robots.
Son has net worth of $45.5 billion based on Forbes real-time data, making him Japan’s second-richest tycoon.
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