Yaskawa Electric

Motoman maker whose Tokyo Robotics unit is building a bipedal humanoid and humanoid actuators

Public · Prototype · Robotics leader · Kitakyushu, Fukuoka, Japan · Founded 1915 · 6506 (TSE) · yaskawa-global.com

Profile

Yaskawa is a top-four industrial-robot maker and a major servo-motor supplier. Its 2025-acquired Tokyo Robotics unit showed a bipedal Torobo humanoid prototype in Apr 2026, and Yaskawa is developing humanoid actuators. Its MOTOMAN NEXT platform uses Google's Gemini Robotics for agentic tasks.

Notes The humanoid status refers to the Torobo prototype.

People

• HO
  Hiroshi Ogasawara

  President (from May 27, 2026)
• MO
  Masahiro Ogawa

  Vice Chairman, responsible for AI robotics

As of Oct 13, 2026. X handles are shown only when we could confirm they belong to the person.

Flagship robots

• MOTOMAN NEXT Industrial robot
  AI robot platform; agentic system powered by Gemini Robotics
• Torobo (Tokyo Robotics) Humanoid
  Dual-arm and new bipedal humanoid prototype

Market & financials

Trademarks

No US filings since 2025 (last checked Oct 15, 2026).

Source: USPTO Trademark Search, matched on the company’s legal names. Rechecked on the 1st and 15th of each month. A filing shows intent to use a name in the US, not a launched product.

Competitors

Companies with overlapping products. Direct = same customers and same job; Adjacent = overlapping technology or market, different focus.

• ABB Robotics

  Direct competitor

  CHRobotics leader

  Both sell industrial robot arms to factories worldwide: ABB Robotics makes industrial robots and is being acquired by SoftBank, while Yaskawa Electric makes Motoman industrial robots and is building a bipedal humanoid through its Tokyo Robotics unit.

  Sources (2)

  • Yaskawa Electric (company website)
  • ABB to divest Robotics division to SoftBank Group (ABB)

• FANUC

  Direct competitor

  JPRobotics leader

  Both sell industrial robot arms to factories worldwide: FANUC is the world's largest industrial-robot maker and also sells cobots, while Yaskawa Electric makes Motoman industrial robots and is building a bipedal humanoid through its Tokyo Robotics unit.

  Sources (2)

  • Yaskawa Electric (company website)
  • FANUC (company website)

• Kawasaki Heavy Industries (Robotics)

  Direct competitor

  JPHumanoid OEM

  Both sell industrial robot arms to factories worldwide: Kawasaki Heavy Industries makes industrial robots and is developing the Kaleido humanoid for factory use around 2030, while Yaskawa Electric makes Motoman industrial robots and is building a bipedal humanoid through its Tokyo Robotics unit.

  Sources (2)

  • Yaskawa Electric (company website)
  • The current goals of Kaleido 9 as a humanoid robot (Kawasaki Robotics)

Recent news

• Oct 8, 2026 — MOTOMAN NEXT agentic system powered by Gemini Robotics Yaskawa
• Apr 15, 2026 — Tokyo Robotics' Torobo gets legs: RL-driven bipedal prototype Humanoids Daily

Sources

• Implementing i3-Mechatronics and driving evolution with AI robotics (Yaskawa Integrated Report 2026) (Sep 1, 2026)
• Tokyo Robotics steps into the bipedal arena with RL-driven humanoid (Humanoids Daily) (Apr 15, 2026)
• MOTOMAN NEXT agentic robot system powered by Gemini Robotics (Yaskawa) (Oct 8, 2026)
• Yaskawa notice of management changes (PDF) (Apr 10, 2026)

Confidence: medium.

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