Physical AI news over the past two weeks included developments such as Japanese company ZEALS' launch of the D1, FANUC's move toward an open platform, and Unitree's Shanghai IPO. U.S. and Chinese regulation and expanding demand in the North American market have also emerged as important developments.
In Japan, ZEALS announced the D1 and plans to begin sales from ¥5 million per unit. The company plans to shift to an evaluation framework centered on operating hours in the field, targeting mass production of 100 units and a cumulative 10,000 hours of field operation. Financing options combining leases and insurance are being considered as part of the deployment model.
FANUC disclosed initiatives with NVIDIA and Google and expanded its open platform. It presented implementation examples including AI agents for kitting and AI robots that mimic human work. Applications connecting existing industrial robots to external AI are becoming increasingly viable.
Overseas, Unitree is targeting a valuation of approximately ¥61 billion through a Shanghai IPO and plans to raise approximately ¥6.1 billion. DeepSeek is making a strategic investment, accelerating the integration of AI models and robotics.
The partnership between LG and NVIDIA targets the entire industrial stack, extending beyond humanoid robots to AI factories. The companies are advancing factory validation and the next-generation humanoid robot scheduled for release in the first quarter of 2027, while progressing the integration of technology under the One LG concept.
In Europe, Pony.ai and Uber plan to deploy more than 2,000 robotaxis across 5 European cities. Their model demonstrates a horizontally分業 model in which AI technology, the customer platform, and vehicle operations are handled by separate parties.
U.S. FCC regulations apply to foreign-made robots, and even robots that meet manufacturing-origin criteria may require new certification. A conditional approval route may also be available.
Robot demand in North America is expanding beyond the automotive sector, and the share of non-automotive customers is increasing. Demand for high-value-added systems may rise.
The IFR says robots are primarily used to replace tasks and that reskilling is important, highlighting the need to reconsider how robotics is viewed from an employment perspective.