The National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) has blocked the planned acquisition of the robotics division of the Swiss ABB Group by Japan’s SoftBank for $5.4 billion. ABB operates a major research, development, and production facility for robotics in Shanghai, and China accounts for about 30 percent of the group’s robotics business.
Chinese authorities fear that operational, motion, and process data from Chinese robotics applications could be transferred abroad and used there to train high-performance AI systems. The case highlights a strategic shift: It is no longer just patents, technologies, and know-how that are considered resources worthy of protection, but increasingly industrial data as well—as the foundation for future AI applications. Robotics data, in particular, can be valuable for training so-called physical AI models, which enable machines to understand their physical environment and act autonomously.
This creates additional risks for foreign companies in China regarding acquisitions, international data architectures, and AI development projects. Cross-border data transfers must be assessed not only in light of China’s Data Security Law (DSL) and Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL). National security reviews may also play a decisive role in transactions involving security-related matters.
Companies must clarify at an early stage what industrial data is generated in China, where it is processed, who has access to it, and whether it may be used to train foreign AI models. Data localization and controlled AI training processes thus become strategic factors in international technology investments.
