Hitachi and FANUC Sign Strategic Partnership to Implement Physical AI

Hitachi and FANUC announced on Sept. 30, 2026, that they had signed a strategic partnership to implement “physical AI,” which uses AI to control robots. The companies said they plan to pursue joint commercialization starting in fiscal 2027 and aim to roll out physical AI. TBS NEWS DIG reported the announcement on Oct. 1.

With Hitachi and FANUC committing to joint commercialization, physical AI could move from research and development to business implementation. As the announcement states, work is scheduled to begin in fiscal 2027. For now, the focus is on how the companies will divide responsibilities and which robots and on-site data will be involved.

What is new in this announcement is that Hitachi and FANUC have placed physical AI within a framework for joint commercialization, rather than treating it as a one-off technical trial. This builds on Hitachi’s direction of combining digital technology with on-site expertise and FANUC’s efforts to advance AI centered on robots. However, the information made public remains abstract, and it is not clear which processes each company will handle. In our related article, Hitachi, Agile Robots SE reach basic agreement on developing the “brains” for physical AI (2026-09-29), Hitachi was shown developing the “brains” side of the technology. The collaboration with FANUC can be seen as an extension of that effort, while also marking a next stage: how to broaden deployment to robots and control systems. In other words, development of the “brains” and deployment on actual machines are beginning to connect along the same business track. From an industry perspective, the collaboration shows that physical AI cannot be built on computing infrastructure and model development alone. Physical AI requires training data, control, on-site deployment and safe operation to work together, making the connection between robot manufacturers and on-site implementers such as Hitachi important. Still, this is only an announcement of collaboration; production volumes, target industries, data collection methods and the scope of integration with existing equipment have not been disclosed. The next point to watch is which processes the joint commercialization effort will address and how far they can be standardized. Open questions include what the companies will offer first under their joint commercialization plan for fiscal 2027, whether robot control or AI training will be the main focus, and how much on-site data will be used. Until these details emerge, the announcement remains a declaration of intent to launch a business, with a concrete picture of monetization still to come.

In its Sept. 30 announcement, Hitachi said it would collaborate with FANUC toward joint commercialization of physical AI implementation. The announcement describes Hitachi as combining digital technology and on-site expertise to address social challenges, and working with FANUC to implement “physical AI.” TBS NEWS DIG’s report confirms that the companies are collaborating and aim to begin a rollout in fiscal 2027. The material provided does not specify target sectors, investment amounts, organizational structure or details of the development work.

In Japan, the design of partnerships spanning robots, control systems and on-site implementation can be a source of competitive advantage. A collaboration between Hitachi and FANUC directly raises the question of how to connect Japan’s industrial robotics sector with on-site systems integration, and could affect domestic fields including control equipment, factory automation and systems implementation.