Toyota’s $6.4bn robotics estimate puts physical AI in focus
Toyota estimates expanding factory automation could require 400,000 robots and 1 trillion yen annually starting in 2028.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- Toyota estimates needing around 400,000 robots and 1 trillion yen ($6.4B) annually from 2028.
- Investment scope covers humanoid and non-humanoid systems across factories and suppliers.
- Advancing Physical AI technologies including KumiPro and ELEY robotics programs.
- Partnering with Boston Dynamics on AI control systems for the Atlas humanoid robot.
Toyota Motor estimates that expanding automation across its factories, group companies, and major suppliers could require around 400,000 robots and annual spending of about 1 trillion yen ($6.4 billion) from 2028. The potential investment was discussed with investors earlier in September, according to Reuters. Toyota has not said whether the full investment will proceed or how many years spending at that level would continue.
The 400,000 figure includes replacements for existing machines and new robot installations, covering humanoid and non-humanoid systems. The potential investment spans industrial robots, automated logistics, and future human-robot collaboration on factory floors. Toyota already uses and tests robotics across several manufacturing processes, listing factory demonstrations involving parts transportation and parts picking in its FY2026 financial results.
At Toyota’s Kamigo Plant, a piston assembly line that began operating with robots in January 2025 has since moved from three operators to full automation, according to the company's 2025 integrated report. The plant's automation work began in 2008, but the company later encountered maintenance constraints as engine production expanded overseas, with some facilities lacking enough skilled maintenance workers to support the automated equipment.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Toyota's temporary rollback to manual production at certain overseas facilities highlights a crucial manufacturing reality: on-site maintenance readiness is just as vital as advanced automation technology. By focusing on Physical AI and flexible robotics that adapt to physical uncertainties, the automaker aims to bridge the gap between laboratory automation and real-world factory constraints.
Toyota is also developing systems like the KumiPro parts-picking robot, which uses cameras to identify and handle loosely positioned components and operates on production lines at Toyota Motor East Japan. The company has demonstrated an assembly process where force-feedback control compensates for camera recognition errors, allowing the robot to adjust movements when inserting components into narrow spaces.
"Toyota uses the term physical AI to describe technology that allows robots to perceive their surroundings through sensors, learn or optimise their actions according to a situation, and operate autonomously."
Toyota Motor
Furthermore, Toyota is developing ELEY, an Embodied Learning robot for Enhanced Yield featuring two human-like arms and an omnidirectional mobile base for physical interaction tasks. Meanwhile, the Toyota Research Institute is collaborating with Boston Dynamics on AI control systems for the Atlas humanoid robot, successfully demonstrating sequential walking, lifting, sorting, and packing tasks using a single Large Behavior Model in 2025.
Source: AI News
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