Japanese Robot Makers Bet on AI to Regain Global Market Share

Japanese industrial robot manufacturers are leveraging artificial intelligence and open collaboration in an effort to regain their past global market leadership, according to a report by Nikkei Asia. This strategy aims to reverse a decline in market share.

Yaskawa Electric's new factory in Kitakyushu, Japan, fully operational since June, features AI in one-third of its approximately 100 robots. The company states that these AI-driven robots have doubled production efficiency. Unlike traditional robots limited to a few product types, the new models can handle up to 12 different products, enhancing flexibility to meet fluctuating market demands.

The Motoman Next industrial robot, co-developed by Yaskawa and Nvidia, is the first in its class to include a graphical processing unit (GPU) as standard. This enables the robot to autonomously perceive its surroundings and adjust its actions accordingly. For tasks like screw fastening, an AI robot can detect and correct errors on the first attempt, whereas traditional robots would stop and require manual intervention.

Japan's share of the global robot market has fallen from 80% in the 1990s to around 40% today, partly due to the rise of competitors from China and Europe. Fanuc has introduced a new robot capable of understanding human speech and performing tasks without specific pre-training, utilizing Google's Gemini AI model. Companies are also expanding collaborations with other tech firms, including Google and ABB.

Industry analysts suggest that while the US and China lead in large language model development, the synergy between AI and industrial equipment still offers Japan a pathway to compete in the robotics market, which is deeply intertwined with industrial sectors and supply chains.