Addverb, a robotics company known for warehouse automation, is pushing into a new category of machines — and it is placing that bet on India.
According to a report carried on MSN and surfaced via Bing News Robotics, Addverb CEO Sangeet Kumar described collaborative robots, quadrupeds and humanoids as the next frontier of robotics, and said the global race in physical AI has begun.
A quick translation for non-engineers. "Physical AI" is shorthand for artificial intelligence that acts in the real world rather than only generating text or images on a screen — software with a body attached. Collaborative robots, often shortened to cobots, are built to work alongside people rather than behind safety cages. Quadrupeds are four-legged robots that can handle stairs, gravel and other terrain that defeats wheels. Humanoids are the two-armed, two-legged machines meant to operate in spaces already designed around the human form.
The move is a notable shift in ambition. Warehouse automation is a relatively bounded problem: a controlled building, predictable routes, repeatable tasks. Humanoids and legged robots are aimed at messier, more open-ended environments, which is a considerably harder engineering challenge and a far larger potential market.
The India framing matters too. Rather than treating the country primarily as a customer for imported systems, Addverb's stated bet positions it as a base for building this generation of robots.
The source item does not include product timelines, pricing, deployment numbers or customer names, so it is best read as a statement of strategic direction rather than a shipping announcement.
Why it matters: if physical AI really is the next competitive arena after chatbots, the question of which countries build the robots — not just buy them — will shape jobs, supply chains and industrial power for decades.