Industrial robotic maker Kuka has outlined a brand new expertise course it calls “Automation 2.0”, centered on integrating synthetic intelligence with industrial automation techniques to allow extra adaptive, autonomous operations.
The technique, offered on the current Nvidia GTC occasion, displays a broader business shift towards what’s more and more described as “bodily AI” – techniques that may understand, determine, and act in real-world environments fairly than merely execute pre-programmed duties.
From rule-based automation to intent-driven techniques
On the core of Kuka’s strategy is a transition from conventional, rule-based automation towards what the corporate describes as “intent-based” techniques.
These techniques goal to translate high-level human objectives into automated actions, decreasing the necessity for detailed programming. As a substitute of specifying every step in a course of, customers outline an final result, and the system determines how you can obtain it.
In keeping with Kuka, this shift is enabled by advances in AI fashions, simulation, and compute infrastructure spanning edge units and cloud-based techniques.
Kuka Group CEO Christoph Schell mentioned: “Robots and automation techniques are evolving from programmable machines to clever collaborators, able to studying, adapting and working safely alongside people.”
He added that new platforms are “bridging conventional deterministic automation, resembling rule-based, pre-programmed techniques, with intent-based automation, the pathway from idea to deployment is turning into sooner, extra correct, extra value environment friendly and extra autonomous”.
Kuka AMP: Software program layer for AI-enabled automation
A key factor of the technique is a brand new software program platform known as Kuka AMP (Automation Administration Platform), unveiled publicly for the primary time at GTC.
The platform is designed to take a seat above current automation techniques, connecting {hardware}, software program, and simulation instruments right into a unified atmosphere. In sensible phrases, it displays a transfer towards software-defined automation – the place orchestration, optimization, and decision-making more and more happen on the software program layer.
Kuka suggests it will enable producers to deploy and scale automation techniques extra shortly, whereas additionally enabling higher flexibility in how manufacturing processes are configured and adjusted.
Automation 1.0 stays the muse
Regardless of the deal with AI, the corporate is positioning its new strategy as an extension fairly than a substitute of current techniques.
Schell mentioned: “As we transfer towards Automation 2.0 and Bodily AI, Automation 1.0 stays important – for Kuka and for the complete business. Confirmed, rule-based automation continues to ship the soundness and productiveness our prospects depend on, particularly in excessive quantity and security important environments. We’re not changing it. We’re increasing it with intent-based and AI pushed capabilities.”
This framing displays a broader actuality in industrial automation, the place deterministic techniques stay dominant in manufacturing environments that require reliability, repeatability, and security certification.
Funding in AI and world enlargement
Kuka’s shift towards AI-enabled automation is supported by elevated funding in analysis and growth. The corporate reported €213 million in R&D spending in 2025 – its highest stage up to now.
The corporate can also be constructing out its software program and AI capabilities geographically, together with a middle of excellence in Silicon Valley and new analysis and coaching services in Asia.
China stays a key market, with Kuka reporting that income from the area exceeded €1 billion for the primary time, highlighting each the size of demand and the depth of competitors in industrial robotics.
Competing within the period of ‘bodily AI’
Kuka’s announcement displays a wider repositioning throughout the robotics business, as distributors search to mix conventional automation with AI-driven capabilities.
The idea of “bodily AI” – linking notion, decision-making, and actuation in real-world techniques – is turning into a central theme, notably as advances in large-scale AI fashions and simulation start to affect industrial purposes.
For Kuka, the problem will probably be translating these capabilities into deployable techniques that meet the reliability and price constraints of producing environments.
Whereas the corporate describes itself as shifting towards turning into a “bodily AI firm”, the near-term actuality is prone to be a hybrid mannequin – the place AI augments current automation techniques fairly than changing them outright.
