China blocks SoftBank acquisition of ABB Robotics

China blocks SoftBank’s acquisition of ABB Robotics

Chinese authorities have prohibited the deal in the country, while ABB and SoftBank say discussions are continuing

AI Newsroom 2 min readPublished on this site: 06 Nov 2026, 11:09Original publication: 05 Nov 2026, 16:25Updated: 06 Nov 2026, 23:09

Generic industrial scene with robotic arms on an automated production line

Illustrative · AI

Image credit: Illustrazione generata con AI / AI-generated illustrationIllustrative image generated with AIAI-generated editorial illustration, labelled

Confirmed by multiple independent sources

Specialist publication

AI editorial synthesis

Three key points

01ABB confirmed that China’s foreign investment security review authority has prohibited the acquisition in the country.
02The Financial Times reported that regulators were concerned about robotics data being transferred overseas and used to train AI models.
03China is a major market and manufacturing base for ABB Robotics, including local production in Shanghai.

Why this matters · AI editorial analysis, not reported fact

For fabricators, machine shops, and industrial buyers, the case shows that robotics transactions can be shaped by data governance, security reviews, and local manufacturing exposure. That can affect supplier strategies, automation planning, and risk assessments across global industrial supply chains.

More than a year after ABB announced an agreement to sell its Robotics division to SoftBank Group, the transaction has run into a regulatory block in China. ABB confirmed to The Robot Report that China’s Office of the Working Mechanism for Foreign Investment Security Review has prohibited the acquisition in the country, putting the $5.375 billion deal under renewed uncertainty.

According to the Financial Times, which first reported that the transaction had been blocked, Chinese authorities were concerned that robotics data could be transferred overseas and then used to train AI models. The available material does not provide a fuller official explanation from the Chinese side beyond that reported concern.

China’s weight in ABB Robotics’ business helps explain why the review matters. The source says the division recorded a 32% increase in business in China in the third quarter of 2026. It also states that ABB manufactures a significant share of its robots at its Shanghai factory and that about 90% of machines built for Chinese customers are produced locally, supporting thousands of jobs in the country.

The source further notes that ABB Robotics has about 7,000 employees and that its U.S. headquarters and factory are in Auburn Hills, Michigan. On the commercial side, the material reports $928,000 in orders from China in fiscal 2025, up from $662,000 in 2024, although it offers no additional methodology or context for those figures.

ABB said it and SoftBank are “in close dialogue and are working constructively on the transaction.” The article also places the case within a broader geopolitical trend, citing recent measures in both China and the U.S. where robotics, industrial machinery, supply-chain resilience, and cybersecurity are increasingly being treated as matters of national security.

For the industrial sector, the development is a reminder that mergers, acquisitions, and investment decisions in robotics are no longer shaped only by finance and operations. Data handling, local production footprints, and the possible downstream use of AI are becoming material issues for global companies with distributed manufacturing and sales networks.