Agile Robots Teams Up With Google DeepMind to Power Next-Gen Industrial AI
Munich-based robotics company Agile Robots has entered into a strategic research partnership with Google DeepMind. The collaboration brings Google’s AI research lab’s Gemini Robotics foundation models to Agile Robots’ hardware platforms. This places the company, founded in 2018, among a growing list of robotics firms betting on Google DeepMind’s AI expertise. Agile Robots says it has already installed more than 20,000 robotics solutions worldwide and raised over $270 million from investors including SoftBank Vision Fund, Xiaomi, and Midas Group.
Adaptable Robots
The partnership aims to develop adaptable robots for industrial applications — specifically in the electronics industry, automotive manufacturing, data centers, and logistics. The underlying concept: data from real-world robot operations feeds back into the Gemini models, continuously improving them. Improved models, in turn, expand the robots’ capabilities.
“Agile Robots has already installed over 20,000 robotics solutions worldwide, proving intelligent automation at scale,” says CEO and founder Zhaopeng Chen.”The huge opportunity ahead lies in autonomous, intelligent production systems that can transform entire industries. Integrating Google DeepMind’s Gemini Robotics models into our robotic solutions positions us at the cutting edge of this rapidly growing market.”
Agile Robots was founded by former researchers from the German Aerospace Center (DLR), namely Dr. Zhaopeng Chen and Peter Meusel. The company now employs more than 2,300 people worldwide and operates production sites in Europe, China, and India. Carolina Parada, Senior Director and Head of Robotics at Google DeepMind, emphasizes: “We are excited to partner with Agile Robots as we develop more advanced AI models for the next generation of robots and to scale their impact across sectors. This research partnership is an important step in bringing the impact of AI to the real world.”
Robotics Partnerships on the Rise
Agile Robots is not the only robotics company to secure Google DeepMind as a partner. Earlier this year, Boston Dynamics announced it would use the Gemini foundation models for the development of its humanoid robot Atlas. The Hyundai-owned firm was itself in Google’s possession between 2013 and 2017. German startup Neura Robotics also announced a partnership in early March — though with semiconductor company Qualcomm, whose new IQ10 processor series for mobile robots and humanoids is set to serve as a reference design.
The rationale behind such collaborations: robots are extremely complex on both the hardware and software sides. Companies with specific strengths — whether in hardware, mobility, or software — benefit from working with partners who bring different expertise to the table.
From DLR Research to Industrial AI
Agile Robots focuses on Physical AI — a concept in which robots not only think digitally but also respond intelligently to their physical environment. The company’s solutions combine force and sensor technology, visual perception, AI models, and its proprietary robotics software AgileCore. The product portfolio includes industrial robot arms such as the Diana 7 and the Thor series, sensitive gripping modules, autonomous mobile robots (AMRs), and AGVs for in-plant logistics.
The centerpiece is the humanoid assistance and industrial robot Agile ONE, set to enter series production in 2026 and capable of working closely alongside humans. By integrating the Gemini Robotics models, Agile Robots aims to further expand its position in sectors such as automotive manufacturing, the electronics industry, and healthcare — and to benefit from a scalable AI feedback loop model in which every deployment improves the models and every improvement opens up new use cases.
