Chinese regulators block SoftBank’s $5.4B acquisition of ABB Robotics
ABB Robotics has about 7,000 employees, and its U.S. headquarters and factory are in Auburn Hills, Mich. | Source: ABB Robotics It has been more than a year since ABB announced it singed an agreement to sell its robotics division to the Japanese tech giant SoftBank Group. The $5.375 billion deal is now being blocked by Chinese regulators, ABB confirmed to The Robot Report. China‘s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review has prohibited the acquisition in the c
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Chinese regulators have blocked a $5.375 billion acquisition of a robotics division by a Japanese tech company, citing concerns about robotics data being transferred overseas and used to train artificial intelligence models. The blocking matters because the acquired company generates significant revenue from China and manufactures a large portion of its robots in the country, giving Chinese regulators leverage over the deal. This action reflects a broader trend of governments using national security concerns to restrict international robotics transactions, with similar blocks occurring in other countries and regulatory actions being taken to control foreign robot imports.
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