<\/p>\n
Automation company\u00a0ABB<\/a>\u00a0is reportedly preparing a possible deal for its robotics unit.<\/p>\n The company is working with Bank of America and UBS on a spinoff or sale of the robotics business, Bloomberg News\u00a0reported<\/a>\u00a0Tuesday (May 27), citing sources familiar with the matter.<\/p>\n According to the report, ABB had said last month it aims to spin off the robotics unit in the second quarter of next year, as CEO\u00a0Morten Wierod<\/a>\u00a0shifts the company\u2019s focus to more profitable parts of the business. Among them is electrification, thanks to the rise of new data centers being built to meet artificial intelligence (AI) demand.<\/p>\n The report added that the company could also consider selling the unit, which could be worth upwards of $3.5 billion, rather than spinning it off.<\/p>\n Bloomberg notes that ABB\u2019s robotics unit accounts for roughly two-thirds of the company\u2019s robotics and discrete automation division. It employs 7,000 people, with manufacturing hubs in China, the U.S. and Sweden, where ABB\u2019s robotics business was launched.<\/p>\n PYMNTS examined the rise of robotics in the workplace earlier this year after Figure, an OpenAI-backed robotics AI startup,\u00a0showcased humanoid robots<\/a>\u00a0that can understand voice commands and can grab objects they hadn\u2019t seen before.<\/p>\n Jenny Shern<\/a>, general manager at robot builder\u00a0NexCOBOT<\/a>, told PYMNTS at the time that humanoid robots face more complicated challenges than industrial robots.<\/p>\n \u201cTraditional industrial robotic arms with vision systems primarily rely on preprogrammed instructions to execute tasks. This works well in factory environments where applications are repetitive and goal-oriented,\u201d she told PYMNTS.<\/p>\n However, \u201cimplementing humanoid robots into\u00a0household settings<\/a>\u00a0is a more complex advancement because, unlike factories, household environments are highly dynamic, and tasks will vary significantly from one home to another,\u201d Shern said.<\/p>\n In unpredictable environments, humanoid robots need AI to operate effectively in daily life because preprogrammed instructions won\u2019t be sufficient, she added.<\/p>\n Rodney Brooks<\/a>, co-founder and CTO of\u00a0Robust AI<\/a>, said Figure\u2019s robot demo illustrated just how superior humans are to machines when it comes to picking up objects.<\/p>\n