Hitachi and Agile Robots partner to bring Physical AI into factories

Hitachi and Agile Robots have formed a strategic co-creation partnership to develop and commercialise Physical AI systems for manufacturing. Hitachi will contribute industrial AI, operational technology and system integration; Agile Robots will bring its robot arms, mobile robots, Agile ONE humanoid and AgileCore software platform.

The partners aim to give robots the ability to perceive changing factory conditions, interpret what is happening and adjust their actions. AgileCore provides simulation, control and orchestration, while Hitachi plans to bring the resulting solutions to customers through its HMAX Industry portfolio. The companies also plan to test Hitachi edge-AI semiconductors in Agile Robots systems.

Initial target tasks include handling variable parts, loading machines, assembly, production changeovers and moving materials between processes. These jobs remain difficult to automate with robots programmed around fixed parts and positions. The companies say their longer-term aim is to coordinate robots, other machines and people across entire operations; they have not announced a deployment schedule or production targets.

Agile Robots' portfolio extends beyond its humanoid. Agile ONE was introduced in 2025 for industrial work including material handling, machine tending and manipulation. Hitachi has also developed Physical AI technology that uses vision and force sensing to learn and optimise robot motion on site, including for flexible-material assembly.

The announcement preceded Hitachi's separate partnership with FANUC by one day. That agreement will use Hitachi factories as validation sites for AI-enabled FANUC robots before planned customer deployments from fiscal 2027.