SoftBank Group on Monday said it had agreed to buy the robotics division of Swiss engineering firm ABB for $5.4 billion, as the Japanese giant looks to bolster its artificial intelligence plays. The deal, which is subject to regulatory approval globally, means ABB will no longer look to spin off its robotics business as a separately listed company. “SoftBank’s next frontier is Physical AI. 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,” Masayoshi Son, founder of SoftBank, said in a statement. Artificial Super Intelligence, or ASI, is Son’s idea of AI that is 10,000 times smarter than humans. Son has looked to position SoftBank at the center of the potential AI boom through investments and acquisitions in different areas of technology. SoftBank owns chip designer Arm, for example, and has a major stake in OpenAI.

Full reprot : SoftBank to buy ABB’s robot business for $5.4 billion in push to merge AI and robotics.