Fanuc Corp., one of the world’s largest industrial robot manufacturers, said it will work with Nvidia Corp. to develop factory robots capable of executing tasks through verbal commands.
The companies plan to embed Nvidia’s computing hardware into physical AI systems that can interpret human speech and navigate factory floors without colliding with workers, the Japanese firm said Monday. The machines will undergo training in Nvidia’s virtual simulation environments before deployment at actual production facilities.
The partnership extends a longstanding relationship between the two companies, which have collaborated since 2016 on incorporating AI into Fanuc’s FIELD factory automation platform. Fanuc is among the first robot manufacturers to support 3D digital twins of their machines through Nvidia’s Omniverse platform.
The announcement comes as Fanuc faces headwinds in its core business. The company’s annual revenue for fiscal 2025 fell 4.12% from the prior year, reflecting softening demand in key markets including automotive and electronics manufacturing. Fanuc’s market capitalization stands at roughly $26.5 billion.
Whether voice-activated robotics can meaningfully address Fanuc’s growth challenges remains uncertain. Factory automation typically prioritizes precision and repeatability over natural-language interfaces, and the practical applications for verbal commands in high-noise industrial settings have yet to be proven at scale.
