By Max A. Cherney and Abhirup Roy
Jan 7 (Reuters) – Chip technology company Arm Holdings has reorganized the company to create a Physical AI unit to expand its presence in the robotics market, company executives told Reuters at CES, where robots are a theme of the year.
The decision to create a unit that specializes in robotics arrives amid a flurry of announcements and activity at CES around humanoid robots. At the sprawling Las Vegas trade show, large and small companies demonstrated robots that could help build cars, clean toilets and deal games of poker – at a glacial pace.
Reuters is reporting the creation of Arm’s Physical AI unit and reorganization for the first time. Arm will now operate three main lines of business: its Cloud and AI, Edge – which includes its mobile devices and PC products – and Physical AI, which will house its automotive business.
Robots and autos are the core of physical AI and share a wide range of existing sensor tech and other hardware. Automakers including Tesla are creating robots to automate warehouse and factory tasks.
UK-based Arm does not make chips itself but supplies the underlying technology that powers most of the world’s smartphones and a growing number of other devices such as laptops and data center chips. The company makes money by charging licensing fees and collecting royalties when its designs are used.
The company’s expanded focus on Physical AI is part of a larger effort to increase the business. Since CEO Rene Haas took over the company roughly four years ago, Arm has developed ways to hike prices for its latest technology and is considering its own full chip design.
Arm executives see robotics as a market with immense potential for growth in the long run. The head of the newly formed unit, Drew Henry, told Reuters that physical AI solutions could “fundamentally enhance labor, free up extra time” and may have a considerable impact on gross domestic product as a result. That division plans to add staff dedicated to robotics, Arm Chief Marketing Officer Ami Badani said.
The company combined automotive and robotics into a single unit because the customer requirements for things such as power constraints, safety and reliability are similar, Badani said. Several automakers are moving into humanoid robotics, as well.
When asked about customers, Henry said, “We work with everyone.” Arm-based chips are used by dozens of automakers around the world, and by robotics companies such as Boston Dynamics, which is owned by Hyundai.
The two companies unveiled a production-ready Atlas humanoid robot that the Korean automaker said it will begin deploying in U.S. factories by 2028.
