SoftBank held talks to acquire Agility Robotics in push to dominate humanoid robotics

SoftBank’s reported $900 million talks with Agility Robotics highlight Masayoshi Son’s renewed ambition to merge AI and robotics as the next industrial frontier.

Japanese conglomerate SoftBank Group Corp. has reportedly held talks to acquire Agility Robotics, the Oregon-based startup building humanoid robots for warehouse automation. The discussions, first reported by The Information, valued Agility at roughly $900 million and reflect SoftBank’s renewed appetite for big bets in robotics.

The news comes less than two weeks after SoftBank acquired ABB’s robotics business for $5.4 billion in a push to merge AI and robotics—its most significant robotics move since the Pepper era.

The deal didn’t go through. Instead, SoftBank took a major stake in Agility’s latest funding round, valuing the company at $1.75 billion pre-money. That investment—rather than a full buyout—shows a strategic shift for SoftBank: backing independent robotics players instead of fully absorbing them.

“SoftBank held talks with humanoid robotics maker Agility, a sign of SoftBank’s ambitions in robotics,” The Information reported.

Agility Robotics has become one of the most promising companies in humanoid robotics. Its bipedal robot, Digit, can walk, pick, pack, and carry items around warehouses with impressive stability. The startup, founded in 2015 as a spin-off from Oregon State University, has already deployed around 100 Digit units with logistics clients like GXO. The robot’s newest version can run up to four hours on a single charge, self-dock to recharge, and handle repetitive warehouse tasks safely alongside human workers.

Inside SoftBank’s $900M Humanoid Play: Why It Chose to Invest in Agility Robotics, Not Acquire It

People familiar with the talks told The Information that SoftBank approached Agility earlier this year, exploring a full buyout before deciding to invest instead. In April, Agility raised $400 million in fresh capital led by WP Global Partners, with SoftBank joining the round. The deal valued the company at about $2.15 billion post-money—a major leap that cements its status as one of the leading humanoid robotics startups in the U.S.

For SoftBank, the decision to invest rather than acquire fits into Masayoshi Son’s broader strategy. He’s been vocal about pushing for “Artificial Super Intelligence,” or ASI—systems thousands of times smarter than humans—and fusing that intelligence with physical machines. Son’s recent $5.4 billion acquisition of ABB’s robotics division earlier this month marked SoftBank’s return to large-scale robotics deals after years of relative quiet. That acquisition, set to close in 2026, adds 7,000 engineers and a $2.3 billion revenue base to SoftBank’s growing robotics empire.

SoftBank’s robotics portfolio now spans humanoids, warehouse automation, and industrial systems. Earlier this year, it led a $500 million round in Skild AI, a Carnegie Mellon spin-off developing a general-purpose brain for robots. It also continues to hold stakes in Berkshire Grey, AutoStore, and the long-discontinued Pepper robot.

The competition is heating up fast. Tesla’s Optimus, Boston Dynamics’ Atlas, and Figure AI’s Figure 02 are all racing toward commercial deployment, each vying for dominance in a sector expected to reshape manufacturing and logistics. Agility’s Digit, priced around $250,000, stands out for its balance between cost and capability—aiming for scalable adoption rather than lab demonstrations.

SoftBank’s growing interest in humanoid robotics suggests it sees the sector as the next major technological wave, much like smartphones in the 2000s and AI models in the 2020s. Agility’s decision to stay independent while taking SoftBank’s money could give it the best of both worlds: access to global capital and networks without giving up control.

As Son continues hunting for robotics and AI startups, one thing is clear—SoftBank isn’t just betting on machines that think, but on machines that move.