ABB Robotics has integrated NVIDIA Omniverse libraries into RobotStudio. Source: ABB Robotics

Yesterday, ABB Robotics confirmed to The Robot Report that China’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review has blocked SoftBank Group Corp.’s planned acquisition of ABB Robotics. Regulators had expressed concern that data for training artificial intelligence models could be transferred overseas.

ABB Robotics is already a significant manufacturer and provider of robotics in China. The Zurich-based company stated that it and SoftBank are “in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction.”

Other countries are moving to protect what they view as sovereign physical AI. For instance, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) recently banned new models of certain connected advanced devices, including legged robots and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Companies such as Intel and Husqvarna have already received conditional approvals.

In addition, the U.S. Department of Commerce last week determined that imports of robotics, industrial machinery, and related components pose a threat to the U.S. economy and national security. This could lead to tariffs.

Government investigations can directly affect major robotics and AI companies. European antitrust scrutiny of Amazon’s proposed acquisition of iRobot was one reason why that deal was terminated, with iRobot subsequently entering bankruptcy proceedings. The robotic vacuum pioneer has since been picked up by Shenzhen, China-based Picea Robotics Co.

ABB Robotics claimed that it is the only company whose integrated portfolio includes industrial automation , software, force- and power-limited cobots , and AMRs .

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