China blocks SoftBank's $5.4 billion takeover of ABB's robotics division
China blocks SoftBank’s $5.4 billion takeover of ABB’s robotics division
China's state planner has prohibited SoftBank from acquiring ABB's robotics segment for $5.4 billion, citing national security risks associated with transferring robotics data overseas for AI model training. This decision marks the second major foreign investment deal blocked by China this year, following the unwind of Meta's acquisition of Manus. The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) expressed concerns that such data transfers could facilitate the development of advanced AI models by entities like OpenAI, in which SoftBank is a major investor. ABB, whose robotics business relies heavily on the Chinese market for around 30% of its revenue, confirmed it is in dialogue with SoftBank to address the transaction. The rejection has impacted SoftBank's stock price and highlights increasing regulatory scrutiny on foreign investments in China's emerging technology sectors.
Source: Robotics — Web news discovery · Read original article ↗
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robotics market, representing around 30% of its robot-related business. ABB operates about 30 local companies in China with around 15,000 employees located in nearly 130 cities, as well as online and offline channels in nearly 700 cities. According to its website, ABB Engineering (Shanghai) is home to its global robotics headquarters and is an important research-and-development center and production base for ABB Grou
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